


Keeping Up Appearances

by DragonSilk



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, F/M, Modeling, Reader-Insert, Romance, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-24
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2017-12-30 08:06:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1016165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonSilk/pseuds/DragonSilk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Gozaburo decides to start abusing Mokuba too, Seto Kaiba knows that he has to get his brother out of the Kaiba Mansion. It throws a wrench into his plans to overthrow Gozaburo, and Kaiba is forced to find some other way to support Mokuba while he makes alternate plans for their future. His height and looks cause him to turn to modeling, and people are just starting to take notice of him when he's paired up with you.</p>
<p>Unlike Kaiba, you're no newcomer to the industry, and his cocky attitude rubs you the wrong way. You fight with Kaiba for dominance during the shoot, and the resulting pictures are spectacular. After that, everyone wants to pair the two of you up.</p>
<p>Seto Kaiba/Reader</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Warning** : There will be mentions of child abuse. It will **never** be depicted, but parts of this story will deal with the aftermath of abuse. So, just a heads up there. (I promise not to get too heavy on you guys.)
> 
> Enjoy~

The first time you met Seto Kaiba, you expected him to fall over himself with compliments for you. At the very least, you assumed that he would be pleased to be working with you. You might still be considered a newcomer to the world of modeling, but you were also a well-known face. Going out in public was sometimes difficult because of the sheer number of people who wanted to talk to you, touch you, be near you. They swarmed around you the moment you were recognized on the street.

Seto Kaiba, on the other hand, was an unknown. Sure the photographer told you that Kaiba was starting to become a big name too, but you assumed he was just trying to keep you from throwing a fit over working with a complete newbie.

Nobody in the industry would ever let you live down that one time you acted like a _prima donna_. At the time, you had been young and immature and believed that was what was expected of you. Now you knew better, but people still occasionally danced on pins and needles around you.

You didn't care that your partner for the shoot was a relative unknown. As long as he didn't behave poorly or show up disgustingly late and set back the schedule, you would be fine working with him.

As luck would have it, Kaiba was already in the makeup room when you arrived on the set. His makeup was even partially done, indicating that he'd been sitting there for a while. It was the first surprise of the day. Models tended to run either barely on time or exceedingly late. You were a member of the barely on time variety, showing up within ten minutes of your call time. Most photographers thought that you were responsible because of it.

Only a rare breed of model showed up early to anything. Either Kaiba was in a class of his own, or he was more of a newbie than you thought.

You put your bag and jacket down before sitting in the chair next to Kaiba. “Morning.” You held out your bagel. “Want a piece?” Being friendly never hurt.

Kaiba looked at the bagel. Then his eyes trailed up your arm and straight to your face. His expression made it very clear that he didn't care who you were. He raised an eyebrow, as if he were asking you why you were bothering him, before turning away from you to look straight ahead again.

“It's wheat,” you supplied. His reaction made you feel defensive. “Eating something before a shoot keeps me from feeling sick under all the lights.” You never expected the man to ignore you. It was surprise number two. 

“My agent told me you were a professional.” Kaiba didn't look at you. Possibly because the woman applying his makeup told him to keep still, but it could have been because you weren't worth looking at. Maybe it was a mixture of the two. “Clearly he lied.”

Surprise number three. The man was a complete jerk.

Okay, maybe that wasn't a much of a surprise. A lot of models were rude, but most of them tried to put up a _façade_ of decency. You settled into silence as you waited for someone to start doing your makeup. You were no masochist. If Kaiba didn't want to talk to you, then you weren't going to talk to him. As long as he could be professional in front of the camera, it would be okay.

Your makeup was applied and your hair styled before you were stripped of your clothing. The shoot was for a perfume advertisement, and you were supposed to play the role of the sultry seductress. To help you look the part, your wardrobe consisted of a lace bra and matching panties.

Since Kaiba had arrived on set before you, he was the first one ready for the shoot. So the moment you were ready, you were shoved onto the set where Kaiba was waiting in nothing but a pair of low cut jeans. He had an attractive body, but you worked with male models all the time. Attractive was nothing new in your world. He definitely wasn't attractive enough to distract you from noticing the way his eyes fixated on your chest. He was obviously straight. 

_Interesting_.

Then the photographer began shouting orders, and you focused on doing your job. You could think about Seto Kaiba's sexuality later.

\-----

Usually working with someone else started out as an intricate dance where the two of you had to find a way to get your bodies to move together. You would move into a position, they would move into a position, and then you both had to keep making small adjustments until your bodies created a single shape.

That period of adjustment didn't exist with Kaiba. He moved himself into position and forced your body to move with his. He didn't dance around you or let you settle into your own position. No. He simply moved your body as if it were an extension of his own.

Not that you just sat back and let him control everything. You were the experienced model here. If anyone should be deciding the positions, it should be you. You pushed against him and resisted his manipulations.

So, instead of dancing around each other, the two of you began pushing and pulling the other in a dance for control. At least it meant that your bodies were always moving together.

Of course, the photographer often shouted instructions. Instructions that you both needed to follow. They were the only interruptions to your fight for dominance with Kaiba. _Wrap your leg around his body. Run your hand through her hair. Pull her up onto your hips._ It didn't matter what the photographer said. Both of you were always quick to obey him.

For whatever reason, it worked. At the end of the photo shoot, the photographer had nothing but praise for you. He even said that your chemistry with Kaiba was some of the best chemistry he'd ever seen.

You didn't want to admit it, but you liked Kaiba as a partner. When the photographer let you look through the pictures yourself, even you had to admit that the pictures did look compelling. “Would you send these to my agent so I can use a few in my portfolio?”

“Sure.” The photographer pointed to one. “This one is especially good. I've never seen such a genuine-looking expression on your face.”

You tried not to wince. The expression in that photo **had** been genuine, and it was entirely Kaiba's fault.

During the shoot, one of the positions found you lying on your back with Kaiba on top of you. Most of the time, you were facing the camera while Kaiba was facing you. Your arm, the one closest to the camera, had been dangling off the couch. You'd just wrapped a leg around Kaiba, in an attempt to pull his body where you wanted it, when he bit down on your collarbone. You'd gasped, still facing the camera with wide eyes, and the photographer had snapped a picture. He'd declared your expression excellent and ordered you to arch into Kaiba.

Now that you were looking at the picture, you had to grudgingly admit that it was a good pose. You looked up and realized that Kaiba was leaving.

“Hey, uh...” At the time, you didn't remember his name, so you ran over to him. “Aren't you going to look at the pictures?”

“No.” He pushed you aside and stepped past you.

“Wait! There's a party tonight at The Shack!” you called out after him. “A lot of important people will be there. I'll put your name on the list!”

He didn't respond. He didn't give any indication that he heard you at all. Despite his silence, you were sure that you would see him at the party. No model would turn down the opportunity to further their career and party at the same time. So you kept an eye out for him that night. 

He never showed up.

After actually putting him on the guest list, you were insulted. It wasn't often that you went out of your way like that for people. There was no reason for him to snub you by not showing his face. You vowed to ask him about it next time you saw him. No newbie ignored an invite like yours.

Not even a newbie who ended up getting noticed because of his “chemistry” with you.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, quick note: In Japan, they drive on the left side of the road. So I'm assuming the car in this chapter has the wheel on the right side.
> 
> So, Kaiba's relationship with the reader so far... fun, yes? Yes? (I hope it is!) Working with him for this fic... well, I'm enjoying it. I just hope I'm not taking too many liberties.

Very little time went by before you were offered the chance to work with Kaiba again.

Until you found out that Kaiba would be there, you weren't going to do the car advertisement. They were offering you a lot of money, but they were also going to have a lot of female models at that shoot. At this point in your career, you were looking for jobs where you could stand out.

Then you discovered that they had hired Kaiba as their male model. So you signed on for the job. It was a nice amount of money, and you would be able to finally chew Kaiba out for not going to the party.

He was in for a surprise if he thought that he could just ignore you.

Unfortunately, you were already booked for another shoot on the same day. Luckily, the man running the photo shoot for the car ad didn't have a problem with you showing up late. The other shoot was in the morning, and he said it would be fine if you showed up for the car advertisement's shoot in the afternoon.

Kaiba, on the other hand, had a problem with you showing up late. He announced that you were late the moment you walked onto the set.

You pulled out your cellphone and made a show of looking at the time. “No. I'm not. It isn't even two yet. I'm early.”

“The shoot began hours ago—”

You interrupted him. “For you. Not for me. I had another job this morning, not that it's any of your business, and I was informed I could show up after it was over.”

“What was so important that you couldn't be bothered to be on time?!”

It was none of Kaiba's business, honestly, and you almost told him that. Except the shoot that you were just at was worth bragging about. “It was for Victoria's Secret.” A major, international company. Working for them could do wonders for your career. Soon you might even have jobs in New York or Paris!

The two girls next to Kaiba gasped and congratulated you. They knew what a big deal it was.

Kaiba remained unimpressed. “You're modeling bras? Are they using you as a before picture?”

Your eyes narrowed into a glare. You reminded yourself that he was just a stupid novice. “You certainly seemed impressed with my chest at the _last_ photo shoot.” You didn't give Kaiba any opportunity to respond before you turned to the photographer, who seemed to be thoughtfully glancing from you to Kaiba. “Should I check in with hair and makeup first or should I get changed?”

“Oh.” The photographer took a moment to register your question. “Go get a spray tan from hair and makeup first.”

You nodded. “Got it.”

As you were turning to leave, Kaiba got in one last insult. “Don't forget a padded bra. You're supposed to be sexy.”

You took a deep breath and refused to face him. It would be a bad idea to let him know that he was getting to you. Still, you couldn't resist calling out a parting insult as you left. “I'll already look sexy if I'm standing next to **you**. Compared to you anyone would look attractive.”

It wasn't true. He was one of the most attractive male models out there, but his ego didn't need to know that. Luckily, the photographer called him back to work before he could say anything in response.

At the Victoria's Secret shoot you had been waxed from head to toe before they gave you a spray tan. Most of that spray tan had rubbed off onto your clothes on the way over but not all of it. You still had a decent base for hair and makeup to work with, which meant that the process of tanning your body actually took less time than it normally would have.

You still had to stand around, mostly naked, and wait for it to dry. The women working on your hair and makeup didn't waste that time. They removed all of the remaining makeup from your face before they began to apply new makeup. Another woman stood on a stool so she could do your hair. Sometimes hair and makeup were done after you put the clothing on so that the process of putting on the clothes wouldn't smudge your makeup or ruin your hair, but today you would simply be wearing a bikini.

Nothing sold cars like women in bikinis, apparently.

Overall, the process of getting ready for the shoot took much less time than you expected. When you emerged, hair and makeup perfectly done and your bikini more or less taped in place, the photographer seemed surprised to see you.

“I'm not done with the twins yet,” he informed you as he continued to take pictures of Kaiba and the two women.

You stayed out of the way as you studied the two women who were wrapping themselves around Kaiba. Earlier, you barely noticed them. Kaiba was bothering you too much. Now that Kaiba wasn't distracting you with his arrogance, you were able to take in the bigger picture.

The two women were sitting on the hood of the car while Kaiba leaned against it. They wrapped themselves around him, but he was still the obvious focal point of the shot. In his expensive-looking suit he would be the focus of any picture he was in. He looked exactly like a successful young businessman, the sort of man who would rise in the ranks of a top company and end up making an obscene amount of money. The twins were dressed in lacy underwear with a simple button-up shirt over it. The shirts were only halfway buttoned, revealing a lot of cleavage. They were probably supposed to be some form of a “sexy secretary,” which enforced the successful businessman persona that Kaiba was imitating for the camera.

It was clear that Kaiba was supposed to be the sort of man that other men would want to emulate.

This was why you hated doing advertisements for cars. You were only there as a prop and being a prop was not fun. Modeling was something you did so you could be the center of attention, not so you could be some man's status symbol.

You didn't have to wait for very long before the photographer dismissed the twins for the day. He sent Kaiba off to change outfits, which surprised and intrigued you, before turning to give you his full attention for the first time.

“I'm Koboyashi,” he introduced, before he frowned. “Where the hell are her boots?! And the hat, why isn't she wearing the damn hat?!”

You almost jumped back when he began to shout, but you were too used to temperamental photographers for him to faze you. With photographers, everything had to be absolutely perfect, and if it wasn't, they would start yelling at anyone and everyone.

“I need the hat and boots, NOW!”

A man scurried up to you as Koboyashi shouted that last sentence. He received a glare from Koboyashi as he tried to situate the trucker hat, complete with the car company's logo on it, over your hair. “Should I pull her ponytail through the opening in the back?” he nervously asked.

“Of course you fool!”

The man began to delicately pull your ponytail through the opening of the hat so it would properly settle onto your head.

“Now, we're going to put you in the driver's seat of the car and take a few shots of just you.” Koboyashi was talking to you now and no longer shouting. “I want you to look like you've just won a race in the car. Confident, satisfied, and a bit aroused. Think you can do that?”

You managed to nod even though the shoes were getting shoved onto your feet, and you were having a hard time keeping your balance.

“Fantastic, now let's get you into that car. Wait.” He grabbed your arm and looked you over. “She needs the jacket! Why doesn't she have the jacket?!”

A black jacket with a checkered pattern around the edges was tossed your way. Koboyashi caught it and shoved it onto you. He zipped the front of the jacket about an inch, letting it hang open. “Now you're ready to get into the car.”

The driver's side door was pulled open, and the photographer began to direct you. He wanted you to dangle your right leg out of the car and place your left foot onto the accelerator. Then he told you to grab the wheel and lean into it with your chest while you leaned back with your head.

You were used to getting interesting orders from photographers, and it didn't take you very long to find the position he wanted.

“Now face the camera. Look at it like it's a man that you want to fuck against your car.”

Well, at least you were the focus of the picture. It was just like your earlier photo shoot, even if the target audience was different. Now you were selling a car to men, while earlier you were selling lingerie to women. In both cases, you were trying to embody a _femme fatal_.

Koboyashi, like any other photographer, wanted numerous pictures of every single pose that he asked you to do, and he came up with more poses for that front seat than you cared to remember. By the time he was done photographing you from the front seat, Kaiba was already seated to the side of him and waiting for his turn. Kaiba seemed to be dressed in something that looked more like a racer's uniform than what you were wearing.

You were surprised that Kaiba hadn't said anything sarcastic or rude while you were being photographed. Maybe he was more of a professional than you thought.

Koboyashi ordered you out of the car so that Kaiba could take the wheel. As he passed you, he whispered, “You look like a whore.”

Then again, maybe he wasn't professional at all.

“Coming from you, it might even be true. I'm sure whores are the only women who will touch you.” You never said that _you_ were professional either. If he wanted to be rude, well, he would learn that you gave just as good as you got.

Then the photographer ordered you to straddle Kaiba. As you placed your hands on his shoulders, he grabbed your ass.

He smirked at you. “You're touching me right now. Does that make you a whore?”

You were ordered to face the camera, so you couldn't respond right away. By the time you were able to talk to him again, you almost didn't remember what you wanted to say. Almost.

“I'm certainly not touching you for _free_ , but you couldn't pay me to sleep with you.”

Then the two of you were ordered out of the car. Kaiba shoved you out of his lap before stepping out of the car on his own. He slammed the door shut, picked you up, and pinned you to the side of the car. “I wouldn't have to _pay_ you. One day, you'll beg for the pleasure of touching me.”

“I LOVE IT!” Koboyashi shouted. “Wrap your legs around his hips!”

You didn't have a choice. You had to listen to the photographer. So you wrapped your legs around Kaiba.

“Push her up so she can look at the camera over your shoulder.”

Kaiba's grip on your waist tightened, and he lifted you higher. Now your legs were wrapped around his waist, and your arms were wrapped around his neck.

“Okay. Now look like you're ravishing her.” Kaiba leaned forward, placing his face against your neck, and Koboyashi turned his attention to you. “Stare into the camera. I want to see your desire for him.”

You could feel Kaiba smirk against your neck, and it almost ruined your concentration. Almost. You tightened your legs around him and wove your fingers through his hair as you did your best to look like you were enjoying this position.

Koboyashi began to snap the photos.

One of Kaiba's hands slid up and squeezed your breast. Your mouth formed an 'O' shape, but you continued to seduce the camera. You wouldn't let Kaiba make you look like an amateur.

“PERFECT!”

You hated Kaiba, just a little, for being able to manipulate you into the perfect expressions.

The rest of the shoot continued in a similar vein. You exchanged insults with Kaiba when you could, he groped you at every possible moment, and the photographer couldn't have been more pleased with the two of you.

At the end of the day, he even announced that he would be surprised if the company chose to use any of the pictures from earlier in the morning.

You were hungry, doing two shoots in a row was exhausting, and it didn't help that Kaiba had managed get you a little worked up. You changed into your clothes as quickly as you could.

Of course, there was only one giant dressing room, and Kaiba was stripping down in there as well.

“For someone who complained that my boobs were too small, you certainly grabbed them as often as you could.” You didn't wait until you were fully clothed before you talked to him. Insulting him while you were dressing seemed like it might fluster him, and you really wanted to get under his skin somehow. You were feeling frustrated and annoyed, and it was all his fault.

“Did I grab them? They're so small I couldn't tell.”

You wanted to grab the man, push him to the floor, and force him to take that back. “It felt like you knew exactly what you were doing.” You were almost dressed and hurrying to finish the process. In a sick way, you wanted to get all your clothes on before he did.

“So you enjoyed it.”

You hated that smug smirk that was stretching across his face. You absolutely did not enjoy it, but you were done getting dressed and currently looking for your bag.

“If you ever want me to touch you again, and I'm sure you do, all you have to do is _beg_ for it.”

You threw your bag over your shoulder and opened your mouth to respond, but he cut you off.

“I bet you're good at begging.” He was blatantly staring at you now.

You stared back at him for a moment, your mouth still hanging open from the response you'd been ready to make. Then you shut your mouth and glared at him, trying to think of a witty retort. You settled for a challenge. “I think you'll be begging for me to touch you first.”

His smirk told you that he doubted your words. You didn't blame him. You weren't entirely convinced of them yourself. He certainly knew how to pull your strings during photo shoots, that was for sure.

So you did the only thing you could do. You turned on your heels and left.  


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot finally shows itself! This'll probably be the last chapter solely dedicated to a photo shoot. (Good news? Bad news? I don't know; you tell me. xD)
> 
> Too much detail? Let me know. I don't want to get boring on you guys, or become one of those authors who doesn't know how to edit. D:
> 
> Also, Mokuba is probably going to make an appearance in the next chapter. 
> 
> Enjoy~

After the car advertisement, you began to obsess over the new male model. You didn't know anything about him, and you hadn't paid attention when your agent told you about him before the perfume photo shoot. He hadn't seemed important at the time. He was just some novice, and you doubted that you would ever see him again.

Except he wasn't a novice. He might be new to the world of modeling, but he knew what he was doing. He knew how to make himself look good while still making you look good too.

Your agent showed you the pictures that would be used for the advertisements. They'd selected one of just you and one of just Kaiba, but the rest of the selected pictures were photos of you and Kaiba.

The two of you looked good together, and Kaiba was starting to make a name for himself. Except he was modeling under some ridiculous foreign stage name. You could barely remember it, Seth something or other, but you knew exactly why he was using a foreign name. With those blue eyes of his, he could easily pretend to be foreign, and women ate that sort of stuff up.

You didn't know if the two of you would work together again, and you weren't sure if you even wanted to see him again. He did know how to make you look good, but he was so arrogant!

Well, he could be as arrogant as he wanted. Today you were the one meeting with a well-known couture designer. Ochi Yoshiro was interested in having you as the face of his new line. It was a big deal and evidence that you were still on top of your game.

When a well-known designer asked you to be the face of their new line, being late was not an option. So you arrived at the studio more than ten minutes early. Of course you didn't expect the designer to be ready for you. He would probably make you sit around and wait, but showing up early never hurt.

The designer was already waiting for you. He nearly jumped on you the moment his assistant let you in. “Good! You're here!”

“Yes. Thank you for–”

“Oh don't bother.” Yoshiro grabbed you by the shoulders and began to push you. “The other model is in the dressing room now. Go join him.”

He shoved you in the direction of the dressing room. It made you feel like you were late to the appointment even though you knew that you were ridiculously early. Most models were irresponsible, especially the male ones, so you were a little curious who your new partner was.

You pulled open the door to the dressing room and found yourself staring at a shirtless Kaiba.

His back was covered in scars.

“Oh my...”

After your gasp of surprise, he turned to face you, revealing a chest that was also covered in scars.

Reaching toward him, you stepped forward. “What happened?” Those scars looked horrible. They were huge and long, and there were more of them than you could count at a glance.

“What the hell are you doing in my dressing room?”

Kaiba's low growl rid you of your concern for him. You stopped in your tracks and glared back at him. “This isn't your dressing room. It's for the two of us, and if anyone should complain about sharing it should be me.” You glanced down at his scars. It was tempting to ask about them, but he clearly wasn't going to share.

“I don't see why you should be the one complaining. You're practically washed-up.”

You dropped your bag onto the floor next to your chair with a bang. “Excuse me?” You stalked over to him and ignored the very nervous woman who was doing his makeup. “I am one of the highest paid models in the country. I'm part of an international ad campaign that Victoria's Secret is currently running. Ochi Yoshiro probably only asked you to do this job because you look good next to me. Just look at you.” You ran a finger along one of his scars, and he slapped your hand away. “They'll probably have to cover these up with makeup or waste time photoshopping them out of the picture. How unattractive.”

Kaiba stood, towering over you, and almost caused you to take a step back. “You might have been a big deal last year, but I'm the most popular upcoming model. Everyone wants to work with me, and if I refuse to work with you, Yoshiro would fire you.”

“I doubt it. Nobody wants to work with a difficult model.” It was hard to glare at him when you had to look up to do so. He was entirely too tall.

“Why don't we test it out?”

You didn't think testing your luck was a good idea, but you weren't going to back down now. Surely you had to be more important than him.

Luckily, you were saved from making that decision by the arrival of your makeup artist. Without another word, you sat down in your makeup chair and settled your face into a neutral position. You just needed to remember that you were a professional. It would be best to just ignore Kaiba. Let him make himself look bad. 

Makeup was applied to both of you, and it was amazing how the makeup artists made Kaiba's scars completely disappear. Maybe they weren't as recent as you thought. He could have had them during the last two photo shoots if they were that easy to cover up.

Both of you were helped into the first outfits. Yoshiro's new line was supposed to be inspired by the Victorian era, and the first outfit wasn't something you would have been able to put on by yourself. It had a dark blue, corseted bodice that needed to be laced up and pulled tight before it was tied at the bottom. The skirt was short but had multiple layers of petticoats beneath it and was completed with a massive bow in the back. Your hair was curled, pulled back, and tied up so that you looked like a Victorian doll with ringlets.

Then they gave you a pair of heeled boots to wear.

Kaiba's outfit was more modern than your own. He was given a pair of fitted jeans, a button up shirt, and a vest. You could tell from the simplicity of his outfit that you were going to be the centerpiece of this photo shoot.

Once both of you were declared ready by the hair and makeup team, you were led back out to the main studio.

“Finally!” Yoshiro seemed to be disgruntled and anxious. You weren't sure why he was in such a hurry, but you hoped that it wouldn't affect the quality of the photos. “Okay, both of you, over here, over here. Stand in front of the set. Offer her your hand like you're asking her to dance. Take his hand. We'll take a few test shots.”

With your hand in Kaiba's, you stood as still as possible. You looked away from him and straight into the camera so they would be able to tell if your makeup needed to be fixed. The test shots were taken, and Yoshiro ordered someone to change Kaiba's hair slightly.

As they fixed Kaiba, Yoshiro turned to you. “I've been led to believe that you've had some dance training.”

“Yes, sir. Some ballet. I can't do anything en pointe, but I can hold most positions.”

“Good. How much can you do in those shoes.”

You looked down and tried to shift your weight to the balls of your feet. Since the shoes had a heel, your weight was mostly already there and you barely moved up. You shifted back down onto the heels and experimentally dragged one foot up until the arch was against your knee. “I think I can do most of what I would be able to do otherwise, but trying to do anything in relevé would be pointless in these heels.”

“Someone get her a pair of flats!”

Yoshiro's sudden shout barely startled you. You already knew that he was the sort of designer whose mood changed at the drop of a hat. You were braced for anything.

As Kaiba's hair was fixed, you changed into a pair of brown flats. Then the two of you found yourselves in front of the camera again. Yoshiro was distracted for a moment, and you took advantage of that to whisper, “They hired me for this job because of my skills. You're just here to make me look pretty.”

Kaiba's eyes narrowed, but it was too late for him to respond. Yoshiro was yelling at the two you again.

“Okay, both of you face the camera. No!” He pointed at Kaiba. “You stand to the side but behind her. Wrap your left arm around her waist. Support her with it.”

Kaiba obeyed his orders. They gave him an opportunity to lean down and murmur, “Think what you want. We'll see who ends up looking better.”

Then Yoshiro's attention was on you. “I want you on your toes. Reach out toward the camera with your left hand. I want your right arm to extend to the side.”

He looked at the image on the camera. “Good. Perfect. No, wait!” He looked back to the two of you. Grab her right wrist with your hand. Make it look like you're pulling it into the position it's in.” Kaiba obeyed.

“Good! Now you're her puppeteer, and she's a doll. Hold those positions and look at the camera.”

Since you were a doll, you tried to keep your face neutral as you stood straight on your toes. Kaiba, the ass, kept blowing air against your neck at awkward moments. You shivered once because of it, and the photographer glared at you.

Once they had enough shots of that pose, you were ordered to turn toward Kaiba. You spun and “accidentally” elbowed Kaiba in the process.

“Now, I want you to pull up her leg so she's standing in the splits. Hold onto his shoulder.”

You held onto Kaiba's shoulder as he abruptly yanked your leg up. He pulled so quickly that you almost lost your balance, but you kept it by digging your nails into him.

“What if I wrap my arms around his neck?” you suggested, hoping you wouldn't get yelled at for having an opinion.

“I like it! Do that.”

You wrapped your arms around Kaiba's neck and tugged the back of his hair. “You're an ass,” you hissed.

He just pulled your leg higher in response.

“Now look back at the camera!”

Kaiba's eyes shifted to the camera as you turned your head back. You couldn't completely face the camera from your angle, but you turned your head as far as possible. The photographer snapped a bunch of shots of this position, and your standing leg slowly began to feel uncomfortable. If this continued on for too long, you probably wouldn't be able to stay completely still. Maybe you should have asked Yoshiro to let you stretch beforehand.

When Yoshiro finally said you could relax, you were ready to collapse. This photo shoot was going to make you hurt tomorrow. As you released Kaiba, you couldn't help but pinch the back of his neck. He twitched and glared at you.

Then the two of you were led over to a couch. They took a few pictures of Kaiba sitting on the couch with your head in his lap. He got his revenge and pulled your hair during some of those photos. So when you got up, you did your best to slide your hands up his thighs. Unfortunately that backfired. The photographer liked that pose and decided to take some pictures where you looked like you were trying to seduce him.

Kaiba's smirk made it very obvious that he liked your position as the seductive doll. He was starting to frustrate you in more ways than one.

After that, you were given back your heeled boots so you could take a few 'artistic' shots. They took some shots of you and Kaiba lounging on the couch as well as some shots of the two of you in a set designed to look like a castle balcony. Then it was time for you to change into your second outfit. Yoshiro followed the two of you into your dressing room so he could talk at you.

“So I'm sure you've both been informed of what I expect from you as the faces of my new line.” Neither of you responded, but he wasn't waiting for a response. “I think it might be interesting if the media believed that the two of you were dating? Yes? Between all the photo shoots you do together, and how fantastic the two of you seem to look... it's completely believable!”

Kaiba protested, but you cut his protests off. “I'm willing to go along with it.” You turned to Kaiba. “You're a popular new face. I'm an established favorite. It can only be good for both of us.”

“Don't try to use me to advance your diminishing career,” Kaiba shot back at you.

You let the insult bounce off of you. “That's big talk from someone who only got noticed because he was in a photo shoot with me.”

“Now, now. Settle down. Neither of you have to give me an answer right now, but eventually the press will ask.” He gestured toward you. “You know how this works.”

You nodded. You did know. When two models were frequently seen together and worked together a lot, people began to suspect that they were involved. You were about to explain to Kaiba that denying it wouldn't do anything, but you were currently being helped into a massive dress. It was hard to talk when fabric was going over your head.

“Don't you dare try to sit down in that dress!” Yoshiro ordered before leaving the room.

You simply rolled your eyes. The second and last dress was completely strapless. The bodice was a deep green and tied in the back like the previous dress. The skirt was much shorter in the front–only reaching just above your knees–while the back had a massive bow and fell to the floor in an explosion of fabric. There was far too much fabric and the large bunching of it at the back of the dress made it impossible to sit in.

Your skirt was so long that someone needed to lift it up when you walked so it wouldn't drag on the ground and get ruined. They helped you walk over to the green screen, and you stood in front of the camera, waiting for your orders.

Yoshiro began to give you your instructions. “This time you're going to be a strong woman. Before you were a doll, but now you're the mistress.” Kaiba finally made an appearance in his new outfit. “Good. Get on your knees in front of her.”

You smirked at Kaiba the moment you heard that command. This was like an early birthday present. He was reluctant to follow the order--you could tell from the slow way he knelt in front of you--but he had to do it.

“Put your foot up on his shoulder.”

_With pleasure._ You propped your foot up on his shoulder and smiled down at him.

He simply glared up at you. “Nice underwear.”

If he thought he could get under your skin by pointing out that you weren't wearing anything under the dress, he clearly didn't know very many models. “Glad you're enjoying the view,” you purred.

This part of the photo shoot was much more fun for you, until you realized that Kaiba was becoming unresponsive and blank. He still got into the positions he was ordered to do, but it wasn't nearly as much fun to bait him when he wasn't fighting back.

Eventually you stopped baiting him and just did your work.

The photographs must have suffered from the missing dynamic because the Yoshiro and the photographer both seemed displeased by them. They kept the two of you in your costumes for much longer than you expected, and they continued to try pose after pose, constantly frustrated with everything.

By the time the shoot was done, you just wanted to go home. You had planned on asking Kaiba out for drinks, but that would have to wait. He seemed to be too stuck in his own head, and you just didn't feel like it.

So you decided to just give him your number instead.

He was surprised when you scribbled down your number on a piece of paper and dropped it into his lap, but he didn't say anything. You filled in the blanks for him. “We're going to be working together a lot. Between shoots for all the magazines, runway shows, and the occasional press event, we'll need to figure out how to act. It'll be good for us to be seen together in public at least. Give me a call sometime and we'll have lunch.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but you were ready for it. You interrupted him and continued to talk as you left the room. “I don't care, Mr. Kaiba, if you're too busy or think you're better than I am or something. Get over yourself.” You pulled open the door. “Later!” you called out as it slammed behind you.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this chapter doesn't send you on a bit of an emotional ride, I failed as a writer.  
>   
> I'd say enjoy... but well, you'll see. I hope it's still a good chapter!

Seto Kaiba never called. 

The first day, you didn’t expect a call. He was a proud man, and his pride would make you wait for a call. He wasn’t the sort of man who would call a woman right away. He would call you once he got over his ego and realized that you could help him out. If it took him a day to figure it out, well, that was expected. He was a stubborn man with a massive ego.

Then two days went by without a single call. You began to wonder if maybe you had overestimated his intelligence. Apparently he couldn’t understand that you would be helping him just as much as he would be helping you. In fact, he was getting the better end of the deal. 

At three days, you started feeling personally insulted. You were a well-known model. You had been on the covers of countless magazines over the past year. He was just some novice. He should be begging for the opportunity to work with you. It was his loss really.

So you decided that you were just going to ignore him. Not that you actually knew when you were going to see him again. You did have an appointment for a fitting today, but you weren’t even sure that he would be there. Fittings weren’t always done at once. Different models sometimes came in on entirely different days.

So when you let yourself into Yoshiro’s office, you didn’t have any high expectations. Actually, you were almost hoping that you wouldn’t run into Kaiba. Your plan to ignore him wasn’t a sure way to get your point across. He might not notice or care. 

No, you needed him to be willing to work with you. Being seen with him would create publicity for both of you. People would look into Yoshiro’s new line to see the two of you. His line would do well, and other designers would want to work with you. 

Of course, none of that would happen if Seto Kaiba continued to be an ass. 

Yoshiro’s assistant was sitting at a desk in the entryway of his office. She was on the phone with someone and held up a finger, indicating that you should wait. You glanced around the area, looking for somewhere to sit, and noticed a kid sitting on one of the chairs. 

You smiled and sat down next to him. He was startled and cringed away from you. You might have been offended by the way he tried to lean as far away as possible, but you noticed how nervous he looked. So you assumed that he was probably shy. “Aren’t you a little young to be a model?” you joked, keeping your voice low and soothing. 

The kid’s eyes shifted in your direction, looking at you, before he looked straight ahead again. His muscles stayed tense, and his lips remained shut. 

You kept your voice low and soothing, speaking to him the same way you would speak to a stray animal. With his wild black hair and the way he seemed ready to run at a moment’s notice, he kind of reminded you of a wild animal. You introduced yourself, telling him that you were a model and that you were here for a fitting. Out of curiosity, you ask him if he recognized your face. 

He didn’t say a word. He didn’t even glance at you. 

“It’s okay if you just nod or shake your head,” you reassured him. 

His eyes widened, but that was his only reaction to your words. His behavior was starting to unnerve you. It was starting to feel too extreme to be simple shyness. 

The secretary called your name, knocking you out of your thoughts. “I’ll let Mr. Yoshiro know that you’re here to see him,” she informed you. 

As she stood, something occurred to you. “Is anyone else here for a fitting today?”

“A few of the other models for that line, as well as the other face for the line. He was supposed to be gone by now, but I think there’s been some problems with the fit of his clothes.” She shrugged and left the room. 

“Oh goodie,” you mumbled. “Seto Kaiba is here.” You turned back to the boy sitting next to you. “He owes me a phone call. I asked him to call me so we could talk about working together, and he never did. I wanted to talk to him about going out and getting publicity. It would’ve helped him just as much as it could've helped me.” You huffed. “He’s probably never going to call me.”

Now your neighbor was paying attention to you. Every so often he would glance your way before going back to staring straight ahead. 

You just smiled. “Sorry for ranting at you, kid. I guess you probably think I’m some crazy lady now.” 

He shook his head so furiously that his hair flew around and hit his face. 

You grinned, pleased that he was finally responding. You were about to say something, but the secretary came back into the room.

“Mr. Yoshiro is ready to see you now.” 

“Okay.” You stood and turned back toward the kid. You reached out your hand for a handshake, telling him that it was nice to meet him, but he sharply turned away from you. He jerked his body away from your hand so quickly that he almost fell off his chair. 

Mouth hanging open, you forgot what you were saying, and your hand dropped down to your side. The kid had obviously been abused. You turned back to the secretary, but she was already at her desk and looking at the computer screen. It was clear that she wasn’t paying attention to either of you.

You kneeled down so that you were back on the kid’s level. “I’m so sorry for startling you,” you whispered. A large part of you just wanted to pull the poor kid in for a hug, but you knew that touching him without permission would just be a bad idea. 

His shoulders were hunched over, and he was slightly curled into himself. His face turned toward you again, and his dark eyes met your own. You just looked back at him, trying to communicate that it was okay. You mentally searched for a way to let him know that you wouldn't hurt him.

“I’m going into the office to have my fitting now,” you spoke carefully, trying to be as soothing as possible. “If you need anything, just come get me, okay?” 

He nodded once, and you had to leave it at that. Yoshiro was probably already wondering why you were taking so long. So you stood back up and walked into the fitting room.

Luckily, Yoshiro was busy pinning a pair of pants to Kaiba. He didn’t even notice you when you walked into the room. 

“I can’t believe you’ve gotten an inch taller since the last time I saw you! How inconvenient!” he complained. Kaiba was standing still and staring straight ahead, so you assumed that Yoshiro was talking to himself. 

To be honest, you thought that it was a little unfair. Kaiba couldn’t control his growth spurts. Not that you were going to say anything in his defense. You didn’t want to offend the designer any more than Kaiba did. Your career couldn’t afford it. 

You walked around the room until you were standing within Yoshiro’s eyesight. When he finally noticed you, he just waved dismissively at you. Taking that as a sign to wait, you took a step back and started looking over Kaiba. 

He was standing completely still and wearing nothing but the pair of pants that Yoshiro was pinning to his body. Kaiba was facing your way, so he knew that you were observing him. He just wasn’t in a position to do or say anything about it. 

You were still curious about the scars littering his body. Now that he wasn’t wearing any makeup, you could see a large scar on his neck. It almost looked like a collar, making you wonder if maybe Kaiba was just into kinky sex or something. You didn’t know much about bondage, but some of your fellow models had mentioned BDSM clubs. One of the girls that you’d worked with in the past had told you about a time when she had worked somewhere as a dominatrix. 

Except Kaiba didn’t seem like the kind of man who would let someone tie him up. He seemed like he would be the one doling out the abuse.

“Put her in the pink dress and make sure it fits!” Yoshiro was talking to one of his assistants, but you knew that he was talking about you. Discarding your thoughts about Kaiba, you followed the assistant over to a rack of clothes. The rack had a poster with your name hanging from it, and you were awestruck by the sheer amount of clothes hanging from it. 

“Are those all for me?” you asked as the assistant carefully removed a massive pink dress. 

“Yes. Some are for the runway, some are for photo-shoots, and others are for you to wear to promotional events.” She hung the dress against the rack and began to carefully undo the buttons running down the back. “Strip so I can put this on you.” 

You nodded and dropped your bag down on the ground in front of the rack. Then you began to remove your clothing.

She removed the dress from the hanger and held it out so you could step into it. “Let’s hope this fits! We’re running short on time today.” 

You weren’t as concerned as she was. Your body, unlike Kaiba’s, was done growing, and your measurements were accurate. It might need some adjustment, but it shouldn’t need more than the normal amount. 

The woman helped you into the dress and made sure that you put on the sleeves properly. Then she began to fasten the buttons for you.

It fit, or at least, it felt like it fit, but the assistant had a troubled look on her face. Trained to not ask questions, you simply stood there as she walked a slow circle around you. 

Then she swore. “The hemline isn’t straight!” 

Yoshiro stopped what he was doing and rushed over to you. “WHAT?!” He ran a circle around you, chanting, “No! No! No!” the entire time. Then he stopped and began to pull some articles off the rack labeled with your name. “I simply do not have the time for this today!” He threw the articles he’d pulled out over a chair. “Take those when you leave. They’re promotional clothes. Come back tomorrow at nine, and we’ll continue your fitting then.” Then he turned to his assistant. “Get that dress off her and out of my sight until someone fixes that hem!” 

He stormed back over to Kaiba. From the way Yoshiro was now furiously pinning those pants, you worried that he might be stabbing Kaiba. Well, at least you didn’t have to stick around for your own stabbing session. 

You were helped out of the dress, and the assistant took it away to a different room. Before you put your own clothes back on, you looked over the pile of clothes that you were allowed to take home with you. Getting new clothes was one of your favorite perks. The pile seemed to consist of casual daytime clothing that reflected Yoshiro’s new Victorian line. There was a simple daytime dress that had a decorative ribbon corset in the back and a basic t-shirt with a corset design on the front and the back. None of the clothes were too complicated, but they all had something that was inspired by Yoshiro’s line. 

You were already thinking of places where you could wear your new clothes. Maybe you could wear one of the dresses on a date with Kaiba… 

You shimmied into your jeans and threw on one of the new shirts. Then you gathered your stuff and left the room. The kid from earlier was still sitting in the same chair, and you eyed him speculatively. You sat down next to him and casually said, “Well, just my luck. The guy before me is taking forever and my fitting was cancelled.” You glanced over, and the kid was looking at you through his bangs. “I’m going to have to come back tomorrow, and now I have a bunch of time to kill. Want to go get some ice cream with me?” 

The kid’s jaw dropped, but he shook his head. 

Someone must have really screwed up this kid. No little kid should turn down ice cream that easily. Well, maybe he just couldn’t go anywhere with strangers.

“How about I bring you some ice cream? What’s your favorite flavor?” You meant it. This kid made you a little bit sad, and he was bringing out some maternal instincts that you didn’t even know were present. 

“I…” The kid cleared his throat. “I… can’t.” His voice was scratchy and quiet, probably from a lack of use. You were overcome with the urge to hug him until his troubles went away. 

You reached out, forgetting about his earlier reaction, and he flinched away again. You lightly set your fingers against his arm. “It’s okay. Are you waiting for your mom or something? I can ask her if it’s okay to get you something to eat.” It was lunchtime, and the kid might be hungry. Ice cream wasn’t a good lunch, but it was the least you could do for someone like him. 

The kid shook his head. “My brother.” 

“You’re here with your brother?”

He nodded. 

“Who is he?” 

“Uh… Seto… he’s…” The kid seemed to be losing what little confidence he had. He looked away from you, and his shoulders curled forward again. That was okay. The first name gave you more than enough information.

“Does your brother hit you?”

“NO!” The kid’s reaction was compulsive, bordering on violent as he grabbed your arm. “He’d never!” His hand clutched your arm, and you wondered if he even noticed his own body’s response to your question. 

You carefully eased his hand off your arm. “It’s okay,” you whispered. “I believe you.” It was true. You did believe him. The way this kid flinched away from any form of contact made you see Kaiba’s scars in a new light.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY BROTHER?!”

Kaiba’s roar almost made you fall out of your seat. He was pulling his brother away from you. His half-dressed state told you that he’d rushed out here, and you wondered if he’d heard his brother’s shout. 

The kid tugged Kaiba’s arm. The moment Kaiba looked down at him, his furious glare completely disappeared. He leaned down and let his little brother whisper into his ear. 

While this was going on, you stayed seated and completely still. You hated to admit it, but Kaiba had completely scared you. Your heart was beating like a rabbit’s, and you certainly felt like an animal caught in the headlights of a car. Hopefully you weren’t about to get run over.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's lots of dialogue in this one. I hope that's alright. *Feels weird having too much dialogue.*  
>   
> Enjoy~

Kaiba looked like he was about to say something, but then Yoshiro stormed into the room, screaming obscenities. He pointed at Kaiba. “I don’t damn well care if your hair is on fire! You don’t move unless I give you an order!” 

Then he pointed at you. “Take some advice from that one. She knows how to stand still and keep quiet. Now get back in there and count your blessings that I’m too far behind to get another male model right now!” Without waiting to see if Kaiba would obey him, probably assuming that he would, Yoshiro turned around and walked back into his fitting room. 

Kaiba didn’t have a choice. He had to follow Yoshiro or risk getting fired. So you took a chance. “You’ll be in there for a few more hours probably. I’m going to take your little brother across the street for ice cream.” 

Kaiba stopped walking and turned on you. Then Yoshiro called his name. Kaiba growled. “If you harm him I swear…”

“He’ll be fine. You’ve got my number. Just call me when you’re done.” You held out your hand, palm-up, for the kid to take. “What’s your name sweetie?” 

Kaiba apparently needed to have the last word. “Don’t think that this means I’ll agree to be seen with you.” Then he strode back into the dressing room. 

You just rolled your eyes. “Your brother is silly,” you informed the little boy standing next to you. 

The kid was just staring at your hand. Then he looked up at you. “I’m Mokuba.” 

You crouched down so that you were eye level with him. At least you didn’t have to repeat your question. “And how old are you Mokuba?”

“Ten.” 

He was so adorable! You couldn’t stop yourself from grinning at him. “Well Mokuba, do you still want to get ice cream with me?” 

He nodded feverishly, and you held out your hand for him to hold. He slowly reached forward with his hand and pushed his fingers against your palm. He slid his fingers up so they were against your own and pressed his tiny palm against yours. You carefully wrapped your hand around his, careful not to startle him. 

You slowly stood, still smiling at him. “C’mon. Let’s go.” 

You weren’t used to spending time with small children, and at first, you didn’t think about the fact that his short legs wouldn’t be able to keep up with yours. Then you realized how quickly he was walking, and you slowed your pace. He still wasn’t very talkative, giving you one or two word answers if he gave you any at all, but he seemed less… desolate. 

At the ice cream shop, you bought him a large banana split. He might not eat the entire thing, it was a bit big for a ten-year-old, but you figured that the poor kid deserved it for sitting quietly and waiting for his brother. 

You also wanted to butter him up. He was quiet, but if you could get him to talk to you, he could tell you all about Kaiba.

The moment you brought the banana split over to the table, Mokuba’s eyes widened as far as they would go. You placed the split in front of him, saving the ice cream cone for yourself, and his jaw dropped. 

“For me?” 

“Yep!” 

He seemed reluctant to eat it, even after you confirmed that it was his. The way he reached forward for the spoon, grabbing it firmly and holding it for a moment, made it seem like he expected the ice cream to disappear at any moment. When it didn’t, he picked up the spoon and dug it into the ice cream, grabbing too much. 

You had to hide your amusement as Mokuba opened his mouth wide to shove the giant spoon full of ice cream into it. His eyes shut, his nose wrinkling, as the cold ice cream gave him a slight brain freeze. This couldn’t be his first experience with ice cream, but it did seem like he didn’t eat it very often. Despite the brain freeze, he continued to shove the ice cream into his mouth. 

“Do you eat much ice cream at home?”

He shook his head, mouth still full of ice cream as he continued to devour his dessert. 

“Your parents don’t let you?” 

He stuck the spoon in his mouth and closed his mouth around it. Wide-eyed and silent, he just sucked on the spoon and stared at you. 

You tried not to slam your head against the table. This kid was more skittish than a rabbit. You just waved at the ice cream. “Never mind. Keep eating.” Your ice cream cone was starting to drip so you took your own advice.

As you ate your ice cream, you studied Mokuba. He didn’t want to talk about his parents. He was uncomfortable with physical contact. He flinched away from you when you offered him your hand. He was painfully quiet and reserved. His brother had some horrible scars. 

It really did seem like they might both be abused at home. It wasn’t a nice thought, and you really did try to come to some other conclusion, any other conclusion really. You just couldn’t think of another explanation. 

No wonder Kaiba was always such an ass. He probably didn’t know how to be anything else. Of course, that didn’t mean you were willing to forgive him for snubbing you. Not calling you wasn’t just rude. It was stupid. 

So when you finally brought Mokuba back to his brother, it wasn’t Kaiba’s well-being that you were concerned about. “You know, I have a spare room that you can crash in whenever you want.” Your offer was directed toward Kaiba, but you really only extended the offer so Mokuba could use your spare room. You didn’t know if he had scars like his older brother, but if he didn’t, you wanted to keep it that way.

Kaiba’s eyes narrowed. He was suspicious of your offer. Clearly he expected you to have ulterior motives. “I have my own bed, you imbecile. Yours holds no appeal for me.” Then he grabbed his little brother’s hand. “We’re leaving, Mokuba.” 

Mokuba just waved at you as his older brother dragged him away.

Well, nobody could say that you hadn’t tried to help them. You made an offer that they could accept or ignore. At this point, it was none of your business.

\-----

Later that night, you received a call on your personal cell. The number didn’t show up with a name, and you almost didn’t answer the call. Most new designers or photographers went through your agent and didn’t call you directly. Still, there was the chance that it could be someone.

“Hello?” You didn’t include your name, just in case it was a wrong number. 

“You were invited to the premiere next week right?”

Whoever was on the other line certainly got to the point. That voice sounded familiar, but you weren’t entirely sure who it was. “Who is this?”

“Seto Kaiba. Now were you invited or not?”

You shook your head at his impatience even though he couldn’t see you. “I was. Obviously. Why wouldn’t I have been invited?” Yoshiro managed to snag an invitation for you so you could wear one of his designs. It was an advantage for you to be seen there, too.

“You will be taking me as your date,” he ordered. 

“Excuse me? No. Why should I? You’re an ass. You’ll just insult me all night long.” Sometimes you just couldn’t understand men. 

“You’re the one who keeps insisting that we be seen together.”

That almost sounded logical, except you were still annoyed that he had refused to call you. “Earlier today, you told me you didn’t want to be seen with me. What changed?” 

“Nothing changed.” He growled. “Stop being difficult. You’re—”

“No no no no,” you cut him off. “Don’t give me crap. I deal with models for a living. Now tell me the real reason you want to go with me.”

“That’s personal.”

“Well, personally, I’d rather take a friend.”

He didn’t say anything, and for a moment, you almost thought that he’d hung up on you. Then he finally said, “I need to go.”

“Yeah, just like I need a job in Paris.” Then you really thought about what he’d just said. “You’re making it sound like you weren’t invited. Didn’t Yoshiro get tickets for you?”

“He did.”

You waited for Kaiba to elaborate. He never did. “And?”

“He’s not exactly happy with me at the moment, which you should know. It is partially your fault.”

Right. Kaiba really was lucky that he still had a job. “It wasn’t my fault. You should know better.” Even if an earthquake had hit the building, Kaiba should have remained completely still. You knew that better than anyone. “Remember, you could stand to learn something from me.”

Kaiba grumbled, and you couldn’t make out what he was saying. It probably wasn’t very flattering.

“You don’t need to go to the premiere. It’s nice to be seen there, and you can talk to people to further your career, but you don’t need to go.” So you wouldn’t feel bad about saying no to him. “Convince me to take you.”

Kaiba sighed. “What did Mokuba tell you today?”

“Nothing.” 

Kaiba didn’t believe you. “It seemed like he said something to you.” 

“Well, he didn’t.” You paused. That had come out much sharper than you intended. You knew that you would spend a lot of time working with Kaiba in the future. Even if you were angry with the man, even if he did frustrate you, it would still be best if you remained professional. “He didn’t need to tell me anything, Kaiba. I have eyes. He flinches away from any physical contact. He can barely talk to other people. You have scars all over your body.” Your voice became softer as you continued, “I’ve seen the signs in some of the other models, Kaiba. I know what abuse looks like.” 

He didn’t say anything. He just remained silent. 

You worried that he was too proud to be willing to admit to it or that he was too ashamed to talk about it. “It’s okay if you ran away from home. You’re not the first model I’ve met who needed to do that.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” he snapped. “Stop pretending you understand.” 

It wasn’t in your nature to let people lash out at you. Not even when you were trying to help them. “Fine, then. Find someone else to take you to the event.”

Not caring if he tried to protest, you hung up on him. Then you programmed his number into your phone. 

It took him a few hours to call you back, and when he did, he woke you up. “This better be good. I have a fitting with Yoshiro tomorrow morning.” 

“I need more jobs.” 

‘Why me?’ you thought as you rolled over and stared at the ceiling. All you wanted was for the guy to help you get good publicity. “Then call your agent.” 

“The premiere would be a good start.”

“It would,” you agreed. “Except I have a feeling that if I take you, you’ll just be a jerk to me all night. Plus I think you’ll ditch me, and that won’t make me look good at all.” Your eyes were slowly starting to drift shut, but you knew that if you closed them, you would probably fall asleep.

“You told me not to give you crap, so why don’t you do the same for me? I’m an ideal date, and you know it. I’m sure we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

He had a point, but you refused to let him get the better part of this deal. “Well, I suppose I can take you to the event, but only if you promise to be a decent date.”

“Fine.”

“Wait. I’m not done yet.” You grinned. “You also have to go out with me a few times before the event. Drinks at night and a few lunch dates.”

“No.”

“Well then, no deal.” If he wanted to go so much, then he would have to eat his pride.

He growled. Clearly things weren’t going the way he planned or expected. “If I go out with you before the premiere and stay with you as your date, you have to introduce me to everyone you know.”

“Well, obviously.” You weren’t about to force him to stand by awkwardly while you talked to people. Then you would look rude.

“Your introductions must be positive. As my date, I expect you to make me sound good.”

Well, it might be hard to make Kaiba look good, especially if he acted like an ass, but you would try your best. “Fine, but I get to arrange our transportation to and from the event. You’ll need to give me your address so I can pick you up.”

“I’d prefer to meet at your place.”

“I’m sure you would, but no.”

“I’ll only give you my address if I can decide when and where we meet up over the next week.” 

Your jaw dropped. “No way! I’m far busier than you are! Our meetings should work around my schedule.”

“I have a little brother to take care of. We work mainly around my schedule or no deal.” 

It didn’t sound like he was going to budge on that part, and you understood. You didn’t have any siblings or any family at all really, but you understood. His brother was his first priority. “Okay, but you still need to take my schedule into account. I can’t cancel anything for you. And I get to pick at least two of the locations.”

“Shall we meet and write up a contract?” 

“In the middle of the night? Are you crazy? I look like crap, and I need to get up early tomorrow.” 

“But you agree to all the terms?”

You thought about it. Yes, you would have to make him sound good in front of countless designers and photographers, but he would be seen with you. After this week, everyone would be convinced that the two of you were involved. “Yes, yes. Call me tomorrow, and we can figure out when we’ll meet up.” You hung up and tossed your phone aside, rolling back over to go to sleep. 

You were too tired to really think about the events you had just set in motion. Spending a week being seen with Kaiba would look good, but what you neglected to realize was that you were going to be spending time with Kaiba. You were going to have to put up with him without trying to kill him.

Killing him definitely wouldn't be good for your career.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So let's see, notes for this chapter...  
> The reader does make a pun using the word _koi_. It's a word in Japanese that is kind of a homophone. There's a _koi_ meaning "love" and a _koi_ meaning "carp".  
>   
>  This is a long chapter, I think. Quite a bit happens in it. I just hope that it flows well.  
> Enjoy~

When you decided to take Kaiba out for lunch at one of the most expensive restaurants in town, you were being a bit of a jerk. Sure, you could say that you were being generous by buying him such an expensive meal and helping him get into such an exclusive restaurant, but really, you expected him to feel uncomfortable in the restaurant. It was a classy place. The sort of place that had entirely too much silverware.

Eating there was uncomfortable for you, and you had quite a bit of experience eating at expensive places. Early in your career, you’d taken a crash course in high class manners so that you wouldn’t embarrass yourself.

But Kaiba… Kaiba was still a nobody. He was just some guy from an unknown background. He wouldn’t be able to survive eating at that restaurant.

So, you would admit it. You were trying to one up him. It was something that you hoped would make him realize how much more experience you had. You wanted him to admit that you might actually know more than him. You weren’t being generous when you offered to take him out to the most expensive and elite restaurant.

Somehow, that entire plan fell to pieces. He knew exactly how to act and behave in the restaurant. He pulled out your chair, used all the right silverware, and ordered with no issues. The entire time, you felt like you were dining with the sort of man whose grandparents were filthy rich.

It took all of your poise to keep him from making you look bad, and even then, you were unsettled by how easy it was for him to eat at a high class restaurant.

“So, Kaiba. Where are your parents anyway?” It was snarky and rude. His parents were either complete scum or dead. They might even be dead scum. You didn’t care. You just wanted to chip away at his perfect exterior.

Maybe you were jealous, but you weren’t going to admit to that.

“That’s none of your business,” he snapped. “Why don’t we talk about yours instead?”

Your comment had hit a nerve. That much was obvious, and you delighted in the knowledge that it was possible to get under his skin. With a smug smile, you leaned back in your chair. “My mother is a drug-addicted stripper, and I wouldn’t recognize my father even if I tripped over his dead body. What do you want to know?”

He stared at you for a moment before his mouth turned down as if he’d just taken a sip of something vile. “Did you actually waste time thinking of such a cliché story?”

“Nope.” You wondered if he’d done his research on you or if he was just guessing that the story was a lie. “My agent does all my thinking for me. I’m just an airheaded model. Didn’t you know that pretty girls can’t think?”

“After speaking with you, I believe it.”

You decided to ignore his insult. “So if I tell you about my parents, will you tell me about yours?”

He scoffed. “No.”

“Well, then you’ll just have to wonder who my parents really are.” Even as you said those words, you knew that he wasn’t wondering about your parents at all. It was obvious, even without Kaiba constantly pointing it out, that he didn’t care for you. You were the curious one.

Who was this man across from you? Did he get his high class manners from the same place he received those scars?

\------

After your failed attempt to show off during your first date, you rethought your strategy. It was clear that Kaiba could outclass you. Sure your mother wasn’t really a crackwhore, but you weren’t from a wealthy background either. Your skills were learned, and it wasn’t effortless for you.

That didn’t mean that there weren’t plenty of ways to look better than Kaiba. It just meant that going out to fancy restaurants wasn’t going to work.

So you skipped ahead, deciding to go straight for the kill and take him to a place where you would be completely in your element. The Shack was the perfect place to take him. It was a popular nightclub, and you regularly went there to party with friends. 

He complained that he couldn’t party all night like you, but you pointed out that he would be able to meet plenty of influential people there, and he promptly shut up. He still made it known that he wasn’t happy about it. He was quiet and sullen for the entire drive there. 

When you pulled up to the front of the club, he didn’t even put a smile on his face for all the photographers standing in front of the entrance. You handed your keys to the valet before grabbing Kaiba’s hand. He looked down at you, and you tightened your grip so he couldn’t pull away. Then you began to smile at all the cameras as you led him straight past the bouncer. 

The bouncer knew your face, and he let you in without a single word about your date. 

The music was easy to hear from the sidewalk, but once you entered the club, the bass made your entire body feel like it was vibrating. You looked up at Kaiba, and he was cringing. Obviously he wasn’t used to such a loud environment. You almost wanted to drag him closer to the speakers just to be a jerk. Luckily for him, the bar was past the dance floor and upstairs in the quietest section of the club. So you swayed your hips and danced your way to the stairs, dragging him along and waving to everyone you recognized. 

He followed you without much of a fight, and you wondered if that was only because he was disoriented. He normally wasn’t quite this docile. Predictably, it didn’t last. By the time you reached the bar, he was already trying to make you release his hand. Just because he didn’t like it, you continued to hold his hand as you ordered two Long Islands.

You turned as you heard someone call out your name. Three models were making their way over to you, but even though they were greeting you, you noticed the way they were all looking at Kaiba. They either knew who he was or wanted to get to know him.

“How are you?” you asked, pretending you were pleased to see them. Maybe it was fake, but in this industry, people rose and fell too quickly for you to want to alienate anyone. 

One of the girls started telling you about some job she recently did, and it was clear that she was trying to impress Kaiba from the way she kept looking over at him. You let her ramble until the bartender placed your drinks on the counter. At that point, you cut her off with, “Well congratulations! That sounds fantastic.”

You gave Kaiba his drink, picked up your own, and stepped around the girls. “We’re going to go sit down now, but let’s talk later!” 

“Oh, can we join you?” 

You cringed. You wanted to tell them to go away, but you didn’t want to be rude. 

“Only if you shut up,” Kaiba said before you could think of an adequate response. 

You knew Kaiba was rude, but you honestly weren’t expecting him to snap at the girls like that. If their dropped jaws were any indication, neither were they. 

You couldn’t stop your lips from turning up, but you still tried to apologize. “Sorry about him. He’s not used to the loud music.” Then you tried to pull Kaiba away from the girls. He took a few steps with you before yanking his hand out of your grip. 

He shoved the drink back at you. “I don’t want this.” 

“It seems like you might need it.” You refused to take it back and turned away from him. “C’mon.” A few friends of yours were sitting off to the side of the bar. Hoping Kaiba would follow, you made your way over to them. 

“Hey! You guys got started without me!” You grinned and lifted your drink up in a mock toast. “I guess I’m going to have to play catch up.” You turned and found Kaiba standing behind you. “Guys, this is Seto Kaiba. He’s the other face of Ochi Yoshiro’s new line. Kaiba, these are a few of my friends. Ichirou Ueda—he’s a photographer you’ll work with if you haven’t already—Yoko Tachibana—she’s a magazine editor—Goro Honda—another fashion editor—and Daiki Koi—a model who still won’t tell me his real name.” 

Daiki reached out and wrapped his arm around your hips, tugging you toward him. “Nonsense. Daiki Koi **is** my name, and don’t you think it suits my loving disposition?” 

He tried to yank you into his lap, but you simply ruffled his bottled blond hair and pulled away from him. “Well, you are a bit fishy.” You grinned at the other three members of the group as they chuckled at your joke. “Go ahead and sit down, Kaiba. Nobody here bites.” You placed your drink down on the table so you could give Goro a hug. 

“I might bite.” Yoko leaned forward on the table. “You’re even more attractive in person, Seto. May I call you Seto?” 

“No.” Kaiba settled into the remaining chair. 

Yoko pouted, and you shook your head. Kaiba was going to dig himself a hole if he offended her. You didn’t owe him anything, but you fell into his lap and pushed his drink toward his mouth. By trying to get him to take a sip, you were able to lean forward and whisper, “If you ever want to be featured in a major magazine again, you may want to be nice to her.” 

Since you were so close to him, you heard his growl as he took a big sip of his drink. He grimaced and placed the drink down on the table. Then he shot Yoko a charming smile. “I’m actually not fond of my first name.” 

Yoko almost missed his remark. She was too busy smirking at you, and she would probably tell everyone she worked with that you were now involved with that attractive new male model. She was a shameless gossip, and you resolved to take advantage of that fact. 

It was perfect. If you played your cards right, everyone would hear about tonight by the end of the week. They would all be convinced that you were, at the very least, sleeping with Kaiba. 

“I think a round of shots is in order,” Daiki announced, glaring at Kaiba. “What about it, newbie? Think you can keep up with the big kids?” 

Kaiba met Daiki’s glare with a blank stare. “I think I’ve already surpassed you, old man.” 

“We’ll see about that. A round of shots coming right up.”

“Need help with those?” You tried to stand, but Kaiba kept you pinned down. 

Surprised, you looked back at him and realized he was smirking at Daiki. “I think he can handle it himself.” Kaiba tilted his head toward you and leaned down so he could kiss your neck. 

You gasped as his lips connected with the skin just under your jaw. Daiki made a disgusted noise and stormed away. You hoped you wouldn’t have to work with him anytime soon. Interacting with Daiki was bound to be an uncomfortable experience after this. 

Once Daiki reached the bar, Kaiba lost interest in your neck and shoved you off his lap. You glared at him, but he didn’t notice. You stood. “I think I feel like dancing. Anyone else?” You looked at the other members of your table, sure that Kaiba probably wouldn’t want to dance. 

“Sure.” Yoko stood. “Let’s go dance, babe.” She tugged on Ichirou’s arm. 

“Okay, kid.” Daiki was back. “Let’s see what you’re made of. I’ve got a line of shots for the two of us.” He placed the long tray down on the table. 

You glanced between the tray and Kaiba. There was no way that he would be able to drink that much. But if you knew Daiki, Kaiba would end up drinking all of those before the night was done. “Good luck,” you said before you left the table, and you did mean it. He really was playing with the major league right now.

As you danced, you were almost able to forget about Kaiba. You lost yourself to the music and swayed your hips. Occasionally you’d find yourself up against a man who’d decided that he could keep up with you on the dance floor.

They never could. You danced your way through a variety of partners, joining different groups of people. Occasionally you glanced up to the second floor to check on Kaiba. He stayed at the table with Daiki, and you hoped that their drinking contest wasn’t getting him too wasted. Somehow, you were going to have to get him home at the end of the night. 

Then Daiki joined you on the dance floor, and you looked up to the second floor to discover an empty table. “What happened to Kaiba?” you shouted over the music as you tried to keep Daiki’s hands from sliding under your clothing. 

“Dunno. Somewhere.” He smirked, staring down at your cleavage. “But I know he’s too drunk to get it up. So why don’t we go home together instead?” 

You shoved him away. “Why don’t you just screw yourself?” You should have expected Daiki to do something like that, and you were angry with yourself for letting it happen. Maybe Kaiba did deserve to be knocked down a peg. Maybe he did irritate you. 

Still, you wanted to get him home safe and somewhat unaffected by the night. He had enough scars. You didn’t need to add to them. 

So you headed over to the second floor, intent on locating him. You could scan over the entire first floor from up there. 

You were almost to the stairs when someone grabbed your arm and shoved your back against a wall. You caught sight of Kaiba’s face, and then he was kissing you. His hand was tangled in your hair, yanking it down and forcing your head to tilt back. His hips were shoved against yours, pressing you against the wall. Between your hips and hair, your back was forced to arch and your chest pressed against him. 

It wasn’t a comfortable position, and you pressed your hands against him, trying to shove him away. “What are you doing?” you demanded once he broke the kiss.

“Showing you that your place is beneath me and begging,” he slurred. 

You groaned, closed your eyes, and let your head fall back against the wall. He was drunk. Completely and totally drunk. You were going to have to get him home before he threw up. 

Lips landed on your neck, and your eyes flew open. Kaiba’s arm wrapped around your back, his hand squeezed your side, and he pulled you away from the wall as he began to bite your neck. Instinctively, you wrapped a leg around him as you tried to take control of the situation. You gripped his hair and pulled his head away from your neck so you could kiss him. 

He wouldn’t dominate you. 

His hand slid down to your ass and he squeezed it as he tried to drag you closer, but you were already pressed up against him. You pulled his lower lip between your teeth and nipped at it in an attempt to control the kiss. He refused to let that happen. Your head knocked against the wall as he shoved you back into it, and you gasped in pain. 

“Why do you always fight me?” he slurred, reminding you that he’d had far too much to drink. 

Somehow you wiggled out from your position between him and the wall. “I think it’s time to go home.” 

He didn’t respond, but you had a feeling that he was about to grab at you again. Carefully, you led him over to the front door. There you asked one of the security guards if he could get you a bucket as you waited for the valet to retrieve your car. The guard looked at Kaiba once before nodding and disappearing into the back area. 

When he came back with a bucket, you thanked him and grabbed Kaiba’s hand. He was trying to lean against a wall, and you knew that the alcohol was really starting to hit him. You tugged him out of the door and had to pull him over to your car. As you hurried to get him into your car, you mostly ignored the photographers standing outside and only flashed them a smile once you managed to get Kaiba into your passenger seat. Then you tipped the valet a twenty for helping you get Kaiba buckled in and took your keys back. 

You pulled away from the curb and tried to remember exactly where Kaiba lived. It was a really crappy apartment complex somewhere downtown. You weren’t looking forward to driving down there this time of night, but you didn’t have a choice. 

You glanced over at Kaiba. He was slumped back in the seat, and you hoped that he wouldn’t throw up in your car. 

Somehow, you managed to find his apartment and even parked near the apartment without any trouble. You would have to be gone by 8am or risk getting your car towed, but hopefully that wouldn’t be a problem. 

Getting Kaiba up to his apartment was going to be a pretty big problem though. You pushed his shoulders to get him to pay attention to you, before you grabbed his arm and attempted to drag him out of your car. The sudden movement was too much, and he tumbled out of your car so he could vomit all over the sidewalk. You jumped away from him, hoping he hadn’t hit your shoes or legs. 

This was going to be miserable. He was too heavy and tall for you to be able to get him up to his apartment, and you didn’t even know which one was his. 

Once he was done evicting the contents of his stomach, you managed to get him up and into the building. Once inside, you let him slump down on the floor as you patted him down, searching for a cellphone. 

He said something about getting undressed, but you ignored him as you pulled his phone out of his pocket. He didn’t have very many contacts, making it easy to locate his little brother. 

“Seto! Are you almost home?” 

His brother sounded so cute and worried as he answered the phone that a wave of guilt washed over you. You apologized and let Mokuba know you were the one calling. “I’m downstairs in the entryway of your building. I need some help getting your brother to your room. Can you come down?” 

You heard a crash and then it went silent. “Mokuba?” He didn’t respond, and you wondered if he was coming down to help you out or not. Then you heard the pounding of feet echo from the stairway. 

Mokuba appeared a moment later, his eyes wide. “What happened? Is Seto okay?” He dashed over to the two of you and began to shake his brother. “Big brother?!” 

You didn’t think you could feel any worse. “He’s fine. Really.” You tried to pry Mokuba off his brother before Kaiba threw up again. “He just had a little bit too much to drink.” 

“He’s not hurt?” The kid looked like he was about to cry.

You shook your head. “No. He’ll be fine and back to normal in the morning.” Well, maybe not entirely back to normal—he was bound to have a nasty hangover—but normal enough. 

Between the two of you, you managed to force Kaiba up to the second floor. His apartment was located on that floor, and in his hurry, Mokuba had left the door wide open. “Let’s put him down in the bathroom. He’s probably going to throw up a few more times before the night is over.” 

The two of you managed to get Kaiba settled on the floor near the toilet. “Okay, he should be fine there for right now.” As you turned toward Mokuba, you were ready to explain how to take care of his brother. The words died in your throat as the kid stared up at you with wide eyes. 

You couldn’t leave this kid alone to take care of his drunk brother. Especially not when it was partially your fault Kaiba was in this state. You could have warned him about Daiki, but instead, you left him alone with a man who cheated at drinking games. 

So you reached out and pulled Mokuba in for a hug. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on him. You should get back to bed.” 

The kid pouted. “No. I can help.” 

“I’m sure you can, but it’ll be okay.” You were sure that the kid had to be tired. So you led him over to his bed and tucked him in. “I’m sure your brother would prefer it if you got a good night’s rest. I’ll let you know if I need you.” 

Then you heard the distinctive noise of vomiting, and you rushed back to Kaiba. You held him steady as he bent over the toilet and rubbed circles into his back. The rest of the night wasn’t going to be any fun, and you blamed yourself. 

Well, at least Kaiba would be in better shape tomorrow than you had been the morning after Daiki tricked you into drinking too much. That much you could guarantee.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's an obvious shift in the reader's relationship with Kaiba in this chapter. I hope it feels natural.  
> Enjoy~

A drawn out groan caused you to open your eyes and kept you from drifting off to sleep. You looked over at Kaiba and confirmed that the noise had come from him.

"How're you feeling?" you asked.

His head turned, and he stared at you for a moment. Then he looked around the room, squinting at everything in sight before his eyes landed on his brother. His eyes shot back to you. "What the hell are you doing here?" he finally hissed. 

You weren't sure if he was keeping his voice down because he was hungover or because his brother was sleeping curled up next to you. It was probably a combination of the two. 

“Well, I was making sure you got home okay.” You tried to sit up, but Mokuba was using your stomach as a pillow. His hand’s grip on your shirt tightened, and you decided not to disturb him. “This one wouldn’t let me leave.” You hesitated before asking, “Do you remember last night?”

He pressed his fingers to his forehead. “No. Did I win?”

You rolled your eyes. _Men._ “Nobody ever really wins against Daiki. He cheats.”

“What?” Kaiba growled.

“Half his shots were probably water or something nonalcoholic. So you win by default, but he really just wanted to get you wasted, so he kind of wins, too.” You tried not to sound bitter. You failed. Just thinking about Daiki’s “trick” made you angry.

“HE CHEATED?!”

Kaiba’s explosion woke up his brother. Mokuba snapped into a seated position, and he tried to look everywhere at once. You sat up and reached out for him, trying to pat his hair in an attempt to calm him down, but he squeaked and jerked away from your hand. Your hand fell back to your side.

“Sorry, Mokuba.” Kaiba’s voice was strained. He kept his tone low and tried to hide his anger.

Mokuba nodded once. “Are you feeling better, big brother?”

“Yes.”

Mokuba reached back and grabbed your hand. He grinned at you as he said, “We took good care of you then!”

Kaiba didn’t say anything. You tried to smile back at Mokuba, but your smile didn’t spread across your face. It felt like you were just pulling your lips up. The silence was awkward. Kaiba wasn’t going to thank you, but he wouldn’t say anything rude with his brother there. The silence meant it was time for you to leave. Kaiba could take care of himself now.

You extracted yourself from Mokuba’s grip and got out of bed. “It’s time for me to go home, I think.”

“Noooooooo!” Mokuba latched onto your shirt. “Stay longer!”

You ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry, kid, but I’m starving. I need to go pick up some breakfast.”

“I could make you something?”

“Mokuba, you don’t even know how to cook,” Kaiba interjected. “Let her leave.”

Well, it was nice to know that Kaiba was still unable to be nice to you. He couldn’t even conceal the fact that he wanted you gone. You frowned at him, but he wasn’t even looking at your face. His eyes narrowed as he stared at your shirt.

“What are you wearing?”

“A shirt.” You were suddenly aware of the large t-shirt and the fact that your clothes were sitting on a chair.

“Why are you wearing **my** shirt?” he demanded.

You shrugged, trying to pass it off as nothing. You weren’t about to let him know that you liked wearing his shirt. “I couldn’t really sleep in my dress.” Then you smirked at him. “Jealous because your clothes look better on me?”

Kaiba scoffed and opened his mouth to say something. Then he glanced over at his brother, and his lips pinched together. Whatever he wanted to say must not have been appropriate. You were curious but knew that you couldn’t ask.

“In fact, I think I’ll be taking this shirt with me.” Baiting Kaiba probably wasn’t smart, but it was fun. You didn’t feel like putting your dress back on either. It was tiny and clingy, and you were a bit sore from having a small child use you as a stuffed animal during the night. You scooped up your dress and grabbed your purse. “If you ever want it back, you’ll just have to pick it up from my place.” Kaiba raised an eyebrow, and you belatedly realized how suggestive that sounded. Ignoring him, you turned back to Mokuba. “I’ll see you later, kid.”

Mokuba nodded once but still looked like a kicked puppy. You forced yourself to turn away from him. The kid had already conned you into staying the night. He even managed to convince you to cuddle with him during the night. If you didn’t ignore him, you would never leave.

Mokuba gave you one last hug before you left. Kaiba ignored you.

Outside, people were already wandering around the streets. Many of them stared at you as you walked out to your car, and you knew that it looked like you were doing a walk of shame. You tried not to let it bother you but still hurried to your car.

Once you were safe in your car, you pulled out your phone. Then you sent Kaiba a teasing text.

“Too bad you couldn’t get me to beg. Better luck next time! ;D”

\-----

Runway shows were your least favorite aspect of modeling. You specialized in print and preferred taking photos to standing around for ages in the crowded backstage of a show. Walking a runway wasn’t something you were good at either. Oh, you could do it when your job called for it, but you weren’t as tall as some of the other models, and some of them were better at walking in difficult outfits than you were.

Larger shows were stressful, too. You often ended up standing around for hours in the same outfit. Sometimes you weren’t allowed to even sit because you might tear something, and going to the bathroom was never an option.

Luckily, today was simply an exhibition. Yoshiro was unveiling part of his new line at one of his stores, and since you were one of the faces of the line, you were part of that show. Unfortunately, ten other models were also part of the show, and some of them were still being prepared. Meanwhile, you had shown up early, and you were ready.

Your feet were also ready… to revolt and fall off. The heels you were given were killing your toes. Taller than normal heels, they were designed to help you match Kaiba’s height and ended up causing you to place all your weight on the balls of your feet.

Since you couldn’t sit, you had to pace around or stand as you waited for the show to start. Neither option helped the pain caused by the shoes, and pacing just made you start to sweat.

When you found Kaiba sitting down in a chair, you let out a cry of shock. He looked over at you, a glare stuck on his face, before looking away. He seemed annoyed, but you didn’t care. “They’re letting _you_ sit?” you hissed once you were standing next to him. 

“Why wouldn’t I be able to sit? We’re not going on stage for another half hour.” 

You clenched your teeth. Men had it so easy. His outfit was simple, and while it might rip if he caught it on something, he was able to move without worrying. With a huff, you leaned on the back of his chair, trying to take some of the pressure off your feet. 

He was staring at you now. “What are you doing?” 

“Wishing my feet would just fall off and be done with it.” 

His blank stare would have caused you to giggle if you weren’t in so much pain. “I’m wearing four inch heels. Yoshiro hates me. Or, at least, he hates how short I am.”

“Then why don’t you sit?” Kaiba leaned back in his chair as if it was the easiest thing in the world. 

You blew air onto his neck, and he lurched forward, almost jumping out of his seat. He shot a glare at you, and you grinned back at him. “In case you haven’t noticed, I happen to have feathers all over the back of my dress. If I tried to sit, I might molt.”

He looked at you, studying your outfit for the first time. “Are you in a wedding dress? Who would want to marry you?” 

“You. Probably. We’re walking down the aisle together.”

He scoffed. “That means I’m giving you away. Or trying to. I doubt I’ll find anyone who wants you.”

“Oh. You’re so funny. Ha. Ha.” You uncomfortably wiggled, shifting your weight from foot to foot. Shouldn’t it be time for the show to start? You were going to have awful blisters tomorrow, you just knew it. Placing your weight on the back of Kaiba’s chair was helping but not much. 

The two of you stayed in the same location until the show started, and neither of you said another word, but it was a comfortable companionship.

\-----

After the show, you didn’t even want to put your shoes back on your feet. You felt like keeping your feet completely unrestrained and free. Your normal daytime clothes were a huge relief as well. The wedding dress had been pretty, but standing around for hours wasn’t ever fun.

As you walked out of the building, you noticed Kaiba trying to catch a cab just ahead of you. You called out his name and caught up to him. "Don't you drive?"

“No.” 

“Why not?” 

He glared at you, and the way his lips pinched together hinted at his irritation. “I’m in high demand, unlike you. I don’t have time to get my license.” 

“So… basically… you don’t know how.” You grinned at him. “Or even worse, you’re awful at it.”

“I’m sure I couldn’t be worse than you, and they gave you a license.” 

You hummed, too amused to get defensive. “Well of course they did. I took my test with a man. He was too busy staring at my body to even notice when I ran over a bicyclist.” 

Kaiba’s eyes met yours. He ran his eyes up and down your body before raising an eyebrow. “I find that hard to believe. You’re unattractive, but not distractingly grotesque.” 

Your jaw dropped, and you stared at him for a moment. Then you tapped his arm with your hand. “I’ll have you know, I was on the list for Japan’s Hottest Women last year.” 

He scoffed. “Pity vote.” 

“Well, see if I offer you a ride home, then.” You crossed your arms. 

He smirked. “You will.” 

You raised your eyebrow and took a step backward. He was so sure of himself. Well, you would show him. You pivoted on your toes, turning away, but he caught your arm. “You will,” he repeated, taking a step to you. “We both know you want me.” He was looming over you now, his body teasingly close and his face slightly tilted toward yours. 

“Lovely delusion you have there, but there’s one problem…” You wanted more contact, but you’d be damned if you let him know that. “We’re not in your dreams right now.” 

His arm wrapped around your waist, yanking you against his body. Then his lips pressed against yours. You made a surprised noise, and his tongue took advantage of your open mouth. His other hand cupped your face, and you reached forward to clutch at his shirt. You tried nipping at his lip, but his hand slid down to grab your ass in revenge. You gasped, and your hips rocked against his in response. 

Then a bright flash startled the two of you, causing you to jump apart. You swore the moment you realized that a photographer was standing right there and taking photo after photo of the two of you. You turned away from him, covering your face. 

Kaiba started to say something, and you were positive that he was about to threaten the photographer. Before he could get himself in trouble, you grabbed his hand and took off running, dragging him with you. 

It looked like he would be getting a ride from you after all.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is new guys! Like I wrote this THIS YEAR. (Versus the previous chapters which were all done prior to my long hiatus.) Hopefully I don't suck now? 
> 
> Either way, I'm super excited to be posting NEW stuff. Like you don't even know. Please love it? (Okay, well, you don't have to love it, I guess. Like I probably do resemble a bike left in the rain for days... super rusty.) 
> 
> Can you tell posting new things is making me nervous? Luckily, ProphetLexicon over on Luna was nice enough to beta read this for me. She's amazing. 
> 
> Anyway, I remember exactly where I was going with this fic. So it's actually one of the easier ones to pick up, and I am really happy to see that people are enjoying it. I hope you guys continue to enjoy it now that you're stuck with 2016 DragonSilk rather than 2013 DragonSilk. 
> 
> Enjoy~

You were extremely pleased with the media coverage of your photos with Kaiba. Many of the blogs and online “celebrity” sites picked up the pictures, and the general consensus was that both you and Kaiba were involved. 

The photographer had even managed to get a shot of Kaiba’s hand on your ass. 

It was fantastic publicity. You knew that Yoshiro would be pleased. As far as you knew, Kaiba was still in the doghouse with him, but he might even forgive Kaiba for being such a novice after this. 

This also meant that the press would start asking you questions about the nature of your relationship. If you had your way, both you and Kaiba would decline to comment, leaving the public to assume what they pleased. 

Sadly, Kaiba was a loose cannon. He would probably do whatever he wanted. 

Last night, he hadn’t even thanked you for driving him home. When you pulled in front of his apartment building, he had bolted from your car without another word. You’d let him go, even if you felt like his actions were rude, but then, this morning he refused to answer your calls or texts. 

He couldn’t avoid you forever. Tomorrow the two of you had to meet up for a promotional photoshoot for Yoshiro, and after the shoot, he’d agreed to go get food with you. He couldn’t back out if he still wanted to go to the movie premiere. Even if he tried, he still had to spend time taking pictures with you. 

Hopefully, he didn’t open his big mouth and do any damage before then because you didn’t have the time to hunt him down. Today, you were busy. A band had booked you for the promotional video for their new single, and you would likely be stuck filming that for the majority of the day. The band wasn’t too widely known, but they were new and getting a lot of buzz, so you were excited to be part of their video. 

When you arrived to the filming, some of the scenes that didn’t involve you were already underway. You were led into the makeup room and forced to stand still as a makeup artist worked on your face. The music was loud and catchy, and it took all of your training to keep still instead of trying to dance along. 

If you were honest, this was exciting. Occasionally models were invited to take part in music videos, but this was your first time being in one. Of course, you’d been asked in the past, but this was the first offer your manager had felt was okay to accept. Your manager had recommended against accepting the previous few offers for one reason or another, and generally, you felt that listening to your manager was a good practice. He’d gotten you this far and knew what he was doing. 

After your makeup was done, they put you in your costume for the video. It was revealing, but according to the script that you’d received, your “character” was a seductress in a nightclub. So it made sense given the situation and character. It wasn’t anything worse than what you chose to wear on nights out. 

Once you were released from hair and makeup and dressed up for your role, you greeted the director, and thanked him for having you as the female lead in his video. The band members didn’t seem to be present at this time, so after talking with the director, you found a seat out of the way and pulled out your phone.

Still no texts or calls from Kaiba. Jerk. 

Luckily, you weren’t given any time to brood over Kaiba. They started shooting scenes with you dancing in a nightclub with all of the extras, and after that, you were busy and on your feet for the next few hours. Each scene needed to be shot multiple times. The director insisted on having at least two good versions so you had to keep acting out the scenes until he was satisfied he had enough. 

You also weren’t very good at this. Instead of finding the right expression and locking it in place, you had to cycle through multiple right expressions in a row. You could move your body around in a nightclub easily, but then when it was time to interact with the band members, the director called you wooden. Apparently, you weren’t very good at moving naturally from position to position. 

It was frustrating. It had been a long time since you’d been a novice at anything. By the time the director gave you a break, you weren’t sure if you wanted alcohol, ice cream, or just a long nap. 

Then you heard a familiar voice call your name, and you cringed. _Please, no._ You looked up and saw Daiki standing in front of you. “Hi, Daiki. What’re you doing here?” You tried to sound pleased to see him, but it was hard when all you wanted to do was run away. You noted the way his eyes were turned down, and suddenly, you were uncomfortable with the amount of cleavage that you were showing. 

“I’m friends with the band, and I heard you were going to be here.” He was grinning at you. “We should do something when you’re done. Wanna go get drinks?” 

_Ugh, no. Never again._ “I have an early appointment tomorrow. I don’t think I can. Sorry.” You wished you didn’t have to be nice to Daiki, but he had too many connections. You were pretty sure he used a fake name to hide how he got those connections, but of course, that was just suspicion on your part. 

“Aw, don’t be silly. Just go out for a little while!” He put a hand on your thigh and tried rubbing it up and down.

You wanted to toss your chair at him. You took a deep breath. “I dunno. Maybe. I’m not done yet.” If you were lucky, you could sneak out of here when your scenes were completed. You only had a few left. 

Daiki placed his hands on the back of your seat, leaning down so his face was close to yours. He was too close. Much too close. You tried to focus away from him to keep yourself from hyperventilating. “You know, I think you and I could be good together. Why don’t you drop that nobody you’ve been spending time with?” 

“Do you mean Kaiba?” You frowned at Daiki. “I have to spend time with him. We’re the faces of a line. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I need to go back into makeup for my next look.” You stood up and pushed past Daiki, trying to minimize the amount of contact that you made with him in the process. 

While you could stand Daiki in a group, you never wanted to be alone with him ever again if you could help it. Once you were in the makeup room, you sent a quick text to Yoko asking if she wanted to hang out tonight.

Your phone buzzed a moment later: _Can't. Out of town._

You groaned at her response. Well, that limited your options. She was better at keeping Daiki from manhandling you than anyone else.

Well, you were willing to sneak out of here if needed. There was no way you were willing to be alone with Daiki. 

Then you were summoned back to the stage. It was time for you to seduce the lead singer.

You focused on trying to look as sexy as possible. You did your best to look like you wanted to pull the pants off the lead singer. 

The director still wasn’t happy with you. It was frustrating. As he forced you to film the scenes over and over, you started to feel flustered. It became harder to focus on everything the director wanted you to do. You made stupid mistakes. 

You annoyed the director enough that he called a five minute break and stormed off. As he walked off, you apologized to the lead singer. He had to put up with multiple retakes because of you, and so far, he didn’t seem annoyed by it. 

“Hey, I get to press my body against a hot model. I’m not suffering over here.” He winked. 

You grinned. It was nice to work with someone so laid back. If only Kaiba could be this easy to work with. If Kaiba were here, he would be calling you names and making everything worse. 

Then again, he hated Daiki, so maybe he would be able to help out with that… 

You sent Kaiba a quick text and let him know that Daiki was trying to convince you to go out with him tonight. You told him where you were and asked him if he would come by so that you could pretend that you had plans with him instead. 

You didn’t expect him to respond right away. You would consider yourself lucky if he responded at all. 

When the director returned and filming resumed, you put on the best show you could. It wasn’t what you were used to doing, but you played the part. Thinking about how rude Kaiba would have been if he were here motivated you. If he ever saw this video, you didn’t want him to be able to criticize you. 

The director seemed happier with your performance, but he still had a lot of criticism for you. You stayed focused on doing the job right. 

Between scenes, you were surprised to find a text from Kaiba. He was willing to come, but only if you counted it toward his date total for the premiere agreement. Of course he’d want something out of it. You texted him back, letting him know that you were willing to agree to that only if he had dinner with you. 

Before he messaged you back, you had to get to work on the last scene that was left for you to film. After this, you would be done for the day. The last scene involved you going up a series of stairs with the lead singer and then disappearing into a room or apartment with him. It was ambiguous, and the door didn’t actually lead anywhere. 

At the very last moment, right before you closed the doors, you were supposed to look into the camera and smile, revealing a set of fangs. 

The fake fangs were terrible. They made it hard for you to smile in an alluring way, and your lips kept getting caught on them. Even when the director wasn’t yelling at you, you still couldn’t get a smile that felt right. You needed a mirror. When you first started modelling, you spent all of your time practicing in front of mirrors. You needed to practice with these stupid fangs. 

Then you noticed Kaiba sitting off to the side of the camera. His presence caught you off guard, and his smirk said he was enjoying watching you fail. You froze, ruining an entire take. 

His amusement made you angry. You’d seen him mess up photos before. He wasn’t perfect either. 

As you walked up the stairs, you thought about luring Kaiba to his doom instead of the lead singer. Then, when you closed the door, you made eye-contact with Kaiba. _You’re next._ You smiled at him, but only one side of your mouth turned up. It felt more like a smirk.

He raised an eyebrow in a silent challenge. 

You shut the door. 

“That was perfect!” the director shouted, reminding you that you weren’t currently alone with Kaiba. 

“Great work.” The lead singer smiled at you. “It’s a relief to be done.” 

You smiled back at him, not really listening to what he was saying. Kaiba brought out your best work, that much was clear, and you didn’t know how to feel about it. 

Daiki waylaid you on your way to Kaiba. “What is the deadweight doing here?”

“Oh, I actually have plans with him. I totally forgot.” You put on your best airheaded model act. Most of the time, people bought it. 

“Drop him.” Daiki put his hands on your waist. “He's a loser. Wouldn't you rather spend time with me?”

“Why would anyone want to spend time with a washed-up old man?” Kaiba asked, coming up from behind Daiki. He reached out and pulled you away from Daiki’s grip. “Go get changed,” he ordered you. 

As you walked away to the dressing room, you could hear him arguing with Daiki. You weren't worried. Kaiba could handle himself.

By the time you'd changed back into your normal clothes, Daiki was gone. You thanked Kaiba for showing up, even if you were sure it was mainly motivated by wanting to get in Daiki’s way. 

“You owe me.”

“Excuse me? As if you had anything better to do tonight.” With just three words, you were already annoyed with him. He had a talent. “Besides, I'm sure you're still looking for ways to get back at Daiki anyway.”

He didn't respond. You assumed that meant you were right, and he was just acting like this was an inconvenience.

“How did you manage to get into the studio anyway?” you asked. You assumed he would have had trouble getting past security since he wasn’t supposed to be here. 

“I never have trouble getting in anywhere.” He raised an eyebrow at you.

“Liar.” But if he didn’t want to let you in on his secret, that was fine. He probably snuck in. “I’m glad you got in though. I was thinking we could do something low-key for dinner?” 

He smirked. The two of you were walking side-by-side, but it was hard to miss that smirk of his. “You aren’t going to treat me to another overpriced dinner?” 

“I’m obviously not dressed for anything fancy.” Just thinking back to that failed attempt to one-up him made you angry. You wondered if he was intentionally making fun of you or if he was just trying to be difficult. Either way, your response was snappier than you’d intended to be. 

“You could easily change.” 

“No.” You stopped walking for a moment so you could glare at him. “I’m _tired_. Besides, it’ll look good for us to be casually seen together. It looks less staged.” 

He shrugged as if he couldn’t care less. You were too annoyed to say anything. The two of you stayed silent for the rest of the walk to your car. Once you were both in the car, you asked him if he’d seen any of the media coverage of your photo from last night. 

“I have better things to do than pay attention to paparazzi.” 

“I’m sure you also have better things to do than answer your phone or respond to texts.” Okay, maybe you were a little bit angry about being ignored this morning. 

“If the caller is unimportant, yes.” 

You groaned. Why weren’t you surprised? “You’re such a jackass.”

“Then why did you ask me to come save you today?” 

Even though you were driving, you still shot a glance at him. He looked as smug as he sounded. His vanity really knew no bounds. “First, you didn’t save me. I could have saved myself from Daiki, thank you very much. You just made it easier to get away. Like a distraction. Second, you weren’t even my first choice. My first choice isn’t in town.”

He scoffed. “We both know none of that is true.” 

Oh, _what a conceited little_ …! You fumed in silence.

Part of you hated his arrogance, and another part of you knew that it only got under your skin because he was right. You did want him. At some point, your frustration with the man had taken a sexual turn, and you kind of wanted to jump his bones. 

But only a little bit. You still thought that he was a royal pain-in-the-ass. 

You pulled into the parking lot behind the restaurant. It was a small place that tried to attract a specific type of crowd. The place was small and lined with bookshelves. Some of the books were donated books, and others were pretentious-looking college textbooks. The tables didn’t match, and some of the chairs looked like they belonged in a living room and not a restaurant. 

The people who hung out here generally didn’t care about models.

The waiter didn’t even spare the two of you a second glance as he seated you both at a small, circular table. “Basically, everything on this menu is delicious,” you told Kaiba. You didn’t even touch your menu. You already knew what you wanted. 

“I don’t trust your opinion.” He smirked at you. 

You grinned. “Fine, but whatever you get, you’ll know I’m right when you eat it.” 

“We’ll see.” 

He ordered the weirdest sounding dish on the menu, and you knew he was just trying to prove you wrong. You weren’t worried. This place had a few weird sounding dishes, and you had already tried a few. He would have to admit that you were right. 

You were looking forward to it. 

Then, after you got your drinks but before the food arrived, Kaiba received a phone call. He was only on the phone for a moment before he hung up. Then he stood. “I have to go.”

He tried to leave, but you reached out and grabbed his arm. “What’s wrong?” 

“It’s… Mokuba. I have to go pick him up.” He tried to pull away, but your grip tightened. 

“Wait up. I’ll drive you. Give me a moment.” You flagged down a waiter. “Could you have our food boxed to go? And could we have the check? An emergency came up.” The waiter nodded and let you know he’d have that all done. 

“Now sit,” you told Kaiba. “The food shouldn’t take that much longer, and since I’ll be driving you, you’ll get there faster. Is Mokuba okay?” 

Kaiba sat down, but he stayed tense. “He’s… fine.” His reluctance to talk to you was obvious. “He’s at a friend’s.” 

He didn’t say any more than that, and you didn’t pry. You understood why he might not want to talk openly about their problems. As far as you knew, it was just the two of them, and Kaiba had good reason to be protective of Mokuba. Mokuba even made you feel protective over him. 

You paid for the food, and Kaiba carried the bag out to your car. He gave you the address for the friend’s house, and you followed your GPS there. When you pulled up to the address, you told Kaiba that you would wait in the car. 

“That won’t be necessary. You may leave now.” 

You rolled your eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous, Kaiba. If Mokuba needed you to pick him up in a hurry, I’m sure it’s better for me to drive you home. I’m doing this for Mokuba, not you.” 

“Fine.” He got out of the car. “This shouldn’t take long.” He closed the door without waiting for a response, and you sighed. 

If it weren’t for his hot body and adorable brother, you didn’t know if he would have any redeeming qualities.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kaiba's subplot, which has pretty much been in the background and not even a thing, starts coming to the forefront next chapter. As an author, it's hard sometimes to not rush things when your character kind of needs to rush things. I dunno. 
> 
> Parts of this were written at work. So potentially awkward. _Oh don't mind me, just typing an email to a customer... No, really..._
> 
> Anyway, it is currently over 100 degrees (in SoCal where I live) and I'm sitting by a pool that is calling my name. So please forgive the fact that my editing for this chapter may be shoddy work. 
> 
> Enjoy~

Mokuba ended up convincing you to spend the night. 

It started off small. At first, he just wanted you to please come up to the apartment with him and Seto. He looked so sad and pathetic as he asked that even Kaiba seconded the request. Well, Kaiba verbally seconded the request, but even for Mokuba, Kaiba couldn’t pretend to want you around. His, “Yes, please,” sounded more like “Get lost.” How could you say no to that?

Then Mokuba asked you to cuddle with him, and if you give a Mokuba cuddles… Well, it all went downhill from there. You ended up snuggled with Mokuba on his bed, and since it was a studio apartment, Kaiba and Mokuba shared the same space. 

It was hard to sleep when you kept getting elbowed and kicked by a sleeping child. Maybe you could have gone back to sleep when he roused you, but then you would look over and see Kaiba right there. He slept shirtless even though you were present, and his scars didn’t distract from his muscles.

The sight of his bare chest made you want to sneak out of Mokuba’s bed and creep over to Kaiba’s. If you straddled him and kissed him, would he kiss you back? Given the way he eyed you and the way his hands tended to roam your body when they got the chance, you bet he wouldn’t push you away.

In fact, you felt confident that it wouldn’t take him very long to be hard for you. He would probably try to take control at that point. You bet that he would flip you over so that he could be on top. 

You could imagine Kaiba holding your hands down as he pulled your shirt up and revealed your breasts. He would lean down and take one of your nipples into his mouth. Kaiba was rough and aggressive, so you felt like he would bite down on your nipple and make you cry out with pain and pleasure. 

You rubbed your legs together, knowing that you were probably torturing yourself. Neither of you could do anything with Mokuba in the room. It would be so inappropriate. 

You knew you were assuming that Kaiba wanted to have sex with you, but you felt confident that he did. Even if he didn’t actively want you, he at least wouldn’t say no. You didn’t have to like each other to want to fuck. 

Mokuba shifted in his sleep, and his elbow dug a hole into your stomach. You shoved his arm away, biting your lip to keep from grunting in pain. He stayed asleep, and you adjusted him until he wasn’t holding you anymore. Then you slid out of his bed and padded over to the bathroom. 

When you turned on the light, you saw yourself in the mirror and winced as you noted the way makeup was smeared around your eyes. You used the toilet, and after washing your hands, you rinsed your face off. Going to sleep with makeup on your face had been a terrible oversight, and you knew that your face would be ruined tomorrow. Yoshiro would kill you. 

You wished that you had some of your beauty products with you, but what you would really kill for was a toothbrush. You cracked open the door and glanced at the two Kaiba brothers. They were both still asleep. You shut the door again and started to rifle through their bathroom, looking for a spare toothbrush. 

You couldn’t find one. Of course not. Why would you think two boys would keep any useful spares around? You eyed Kaiba’s toothbrush. Mokuba’s was obviously the child’s sized brush with cartoons on it. Kaiba didn’t mind swapping spit with you, and he never had to know that you used his brush…

After cleaning yourself up, you considered slipping into bed with Kaiba. You’d love to know how talented he was with those long fingers of his. 

Then, as if he knew that you were thinking about abandoning him, Mokuba began to whimper. Your heart broke into a million pieces, and you sat back down on his bed, pulling him in for a hug. He snuggled into your side, and you closed your eyes, hoping you could fall back asleep. You succeeded, and while you knew that you woke up a few more times, you didn’t remember any of them. 

In the morning, you woke up to Mokuba’s grinning face up close and personal. You smiled back at him as you shifted away. While you liked the kid, he was a little too close for this early in the morning. 

The banging of pots caught your attention, and you realized that Kaiba was cooking. That was unexpected. You figured these two probably lived off of pizza and other “man” foods. “What’s for breakfast?”

Kaiba paused and glared at you. “Scrambled eggs.” 

“I don’t really like scrambled eggs.” You knew you were pushing your luck, but you couldn’t help it. 

“You’re expecting me to feed you?”

“Set-o!” Mokuba whined. “Don’t be mean!” 

Kaiba grit his teeth. “If you want scrambled eggs, you can have some. Otherwise you’re on your own.”

You smiled at Mokuba. Mostly you just wanted to give Kaiba a hard time. “I actually should get going. I need to go home and shower before I go to work today. We have that meeting with Yoshiro today.” 

Kaiba smirked. “I know.” 

You didn’t like the way he was smirking. He seemed to be pleased with himself. You grabbed your purse and pulled your phone out. “You asshole!” You wanted to throw something at Kaiba. “Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?!” You didn’t have time to drive across town to your own apartment now. You would never be able to make it to the appointment with Yoshiro on time if you did that. 

“If you wanted to get up at a specific time, you should have set an alarm. Don’t blame me for your mistake.” 

You glared at him. Yes, you should have set an alarm. Normally you used an alarm clock instead of your phone, so you hadn’t thought about it last night… but basic human decency should have told him to wake you up before now. 

“Is everything okay?” Mokuba asked, looking up at you with big eyes. You immediately felt bad for yelling at Kaiba, even if Kaiba completely deserved it. The poor kid had an anxiety attack yesterday. You didn’t need to give him another one. 

You smiled at Mokuba. “Yeah. I’ll still be on time for the photoshoot. I just don’t have time to go home first.” 

Mokuba nodded as if he understood. 

Ugh. How could you fix this? You could just go to work without a shower. They would deal with your hair and face there either way, but you felt gross and needed a good shower. “I’m using your shower,” you informed Kaiba as you began gathering your clothes from last night. The shirt that you’d stolen to sleep in barely covered your underwear, but you didn’t care about the amount of skin it was showing off. Kaiba had seen you practically naked and Mokuba was just a kid. 

By the time you found all of your clothes, Kaiba was doling out scrambled eggs onto two plates. You grabbed a fork and shoved a forkful of eggs into your mouth. 

That was a bad idea. They were hot! You chewed with your mouth open, trying to blow air out to cool them down and avoid burning your tongue. After you managed to swallow the mouthful, you turned to Kaiba and found him giving you a look that said he thought you were a slob. “I need a towel.” 

“We don’t have any extras.” 

 

“Fine. Which one is yours?” 

Kaiba scoffed. “You’re not using my towel.” 

“Watch me.” 

He smirked, giving your body a once-over with his eyes. “Are you that eager to show off?” 

“You can use my towel!” Mokuba offered before you could respond to his brother. “I’ll show you where it is!” 

“Sit!” Kaiba ordered. “Eat! I don’t want you complaining that you’re hungry later.” After Mokuba sat at the table with a pout, Kaiba strode over to the bathroom. You followed him, smiling at your victory. 

The bathroom was small, and you had to get close to Kaiba to join him in there. “The blue towel is mine,” he said as he closed the door. Then he pushed you against the door. You dropped your clothes from the shock of his aggression. “Don’t order me around again.” 

The back of your head had bumped against the door, but Kaiba didn’t scare you. “Or what?” You smirked, biting your lip. 

He leaned down until his face was almost touching yours. “You won’t like what happens.”

“I think I might,” you purred, leaning forward until your lips were almost touching his. You didn’t kiss him, but once you were close enough, he closed the gap and kissed you. 

Then his hands were everywhere. One slid around the back of your head, grabbing your hair near the base, and another slid down to grab at your ass and pull you closer. You grabbed him, too, running your hands up and down his back, letting your nails dance along his skin. 

The kiss wasn’t sweet. It was pure lust. You smirked against his lips. You knew that he wanted you as much as you wanted him. 

Then his hand pulled your ass up. You rose up on your toes at first, but another tug caused you to wrap a leg around his waist. He pressed your back against the door. Then he pushed his hips forward, grinding against you. 

A knock on the door caused the two of you to jump apart. “Are you guys okay?” Mokuba asked from the other side of the door. “I heard noises.” 

“Yes, Mokuba. Eat your breakfast.” Kaiba was smirking at you as he whispered, “I knew you would throw yourself at me eventually.” 

“You’re the one who grabbed me.” You reached down and rubbed the crotch of his pants. “I knew that you wanted me.” 

He stepped away. “Don’t think that’s because of you personally. I could do better.” 

“Sure you could.” You reached into the shower and turned it on. “Now get out. I have to get ready for our photoshoot.” 

 

He frowned but left the bathroom without another word.

You showered quickly, stealing some of the soap that was sitting in the bathroom. You avoided getting your hair wet, knowing it was unlikely the boys would have a brush of any sort. Your hair and makeup would get done at the shoot, but you wanted to feel clean at least.

Once you were done, you toweled off using Kaiba’s towel. Then you reluctantly put on your clothes from yesterday. You checked the time on your phone. There was plenty of time to stop for coffee and a small breakfast on the way. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad after all. 

You pulled your hair up with a tie that you kept in your purse and hung Kaiba’s towel back up. You were half tempted to just toss it on the floor, but that seemed too rude. 

Kaiba and Mokuba were both fully dressed. You didn’t know if Kaiba planned to bring Mokuba with him or if he had other plans for Mokuba today. “Are you guys catching a ride with me or am I meeting you there?” 

Mokuba’s eyes lit up at your question. “You’re driving us?” 

“Well, we’re all going to the same place.” You shrugged and started gathering your stuff, making sure everything was in your bag. As you left the apartment, Mokuba walked next to you, asking questions about today’s photoshoot. 

Mokuba continued to chatter for the rest of the trip to the photoshoot. He stayed quiet while you picked up your coffee but then started talking again the moment he was back in your car. 

Kaiba stayed out of the conversation, which was probably a good thing. His attitude was hard to handle in large doses, and you could easily imagine yourself pulling over and pushing him out of your car.

Once you made it to Yoshiro’s studio, you parked your car and walked into the building with both Kaiba brothers. Today was supposed to be a short job. The photos were for Yoshiro’s official website, and there were a lot of other models who would be coming in to take photos as well. As the faces, you and Kaiba were needed for the featured items, but everything else would be worn by lesser known models. 

Except they were running behind. One of Yoshiro’s assistants asked you and Kaiba to please wait as they finished with the models before you. Kaiba was not amused, but you placed a hand on his arm and told the assistant that the two of you would wait. You grabbed him and pulled him away from them even as he tried to insist that his time was valuable. 

“You’re already on Yoshiro’s shit list,” you whispered once you had him away from the assistants. “Don’t push your luck by causing a scene.” 

“This is a waste of my time,” he grumbled. “And my time is worth a lot of money.” 

You ignored his grumbling. He seemed to be complaining to save face more than anything. For some reason, he needed to feel important at all times. Which was ridiculous. In this industry, sometimes you were nothing more than a hanger. 

Kaiba gave Mokuba his phone, and Mokuba busied himself with a game of some sort. Kaiba busied himself with glaring at any of the assistants who happened to be nearby. You hoped he wouldn’t explode and started checking your emails. 

You had one from your manager, and you checked that one first, knowing that his emails were sometimes time-sensitive. It had an attachment, and according to the email, the attachment was a contract that Kaiba’s team had sent over…

You had to reread the email a few times, but the details just wouldn’t sink in. Surely you couldn’t be reading that properly? You had to be misunderstanding something…

Finally, you leaned over and showed Kaiba the email, demanding to know what he was even thinking.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving!!! 
> 
> Sorry about leaving off on a cliffhanger. I'm quite literally the worst. (I didn't realize it had been so long since I updated this! D: )
> 
> Enjoy~

You fumed during the entire meeting with Yoshiro. Kaiba refused to explain the email or even talk with you about it at all. He stated it could wait until after the two of you were done with work. You couldn’t cause a scene in Yoshiro’s office, so you had to accept that statement without screaming at him. 

Your manager had sent over a contract for marriage. 

Marriage. 

You’d read that part multiple times, sure that you were misreading it. It was such a strange thing to do, and nobody wrote up  _ contracts _ for marriage anymore. You were sure that it had to be a joke. Possibly some sort of PR stunt. You would wear a ring and pretend to be foolishly in love with Kaiba and engaged. Then, once you were done working together with Yoshiro, the two of you would break up. 

That had to be it. 

Kaiba didn’t want you to marry him. Not really. It was just PR. 

You still wanted him to explain exactly what he was thinking. He wouldn’t be seen as your boyfriend, but he’d fake-propose? Who did that? 

So the moment the two of you stepped out of Yoshiro’s building, you exploded at him. “What the hell are you thinking, Kaiba?!” 

“Later,” he snarled, glancing over at Mokuba and reminding you of his presence.

“Now.” You refused to obsess over this all day. You needed answers now. 

Mokuba looked between the two of you but stayed silent. You didn’t understand why Kaiba would want to hide this from him. If the two of you were publically engaged, then he would find out about it. It affected him too. 

Kaiba ignored you. “Do you want to go to the arcade, Mokuba?” 

“Don’t change--” Kaiba shot you a lethal glare, interrupting you. You shut your mouth, regretting it immediately. Kaiba couldn’t bully you. “We need to talk,” you insisted. 

He glared at you, and you stood as straight as possible as you glared back. He couldn’t intimidate you. You wouldn’t allow it. 

“We can speak over lunch.” He gestured around. “This is hardly the place for a proper conversation.” 

You conceded that he had a point and agreed to drive them somewhere so you could eat lunch and talk. He wanted to go to the nearby arcade so Mokuba could play while you spoke, but you refused to eat pizza for lunch. Also, you wanted to be difficult. 

He then insisted on dropping Mokuba off at a friend’s house. You agreed, but only so he would just hurry up and get to the point already. 

As Mokuba got out of your car, you waved to him while Kaiba walked him up to the door. A woman answered the door, and Kaiba spoke with her for a moment before coming back down to your car. 

“What is  _ wrong _ with you?” you asked the moment he shut the passenger door. 

“Just drive.” He grit his teeth, wincing as if he were in pain. 

You couldn’t drive. Your anger had boiled over, and you felt your whole body vibrating with rage. “How could you send a marriage proposal over to my manager?!” You couldn’t wrap your mind around the document that your manager had emailed you. Even reading it was beyond you. 

“It’s a business proposal. You said it would be better for our images if we were seen together romantically.” 

He’d given you the answer that you expected, it was the only one that you had been able to come up with on your own, but something still seemed off. “Don’t you think marriage is taking that a little too far?” 

“It would be temporary.” Kaiba shrugged as if deciding to get married was the same as deciding what movie to watch on Netflix. If you made the wrong decision, you could always go back and pick another one.

You rolled your eyes, wondering why you’d expected Kaiba to explain himself. Maybe this had been an impulse decision for him. Maybe he really didn’t think it would be a big deal to get married, or pretend that you were going to get married and then break it off. 

For him, it might not be an issue, but for you, you felt like this sort of situation would paint you as flighty. You couldn’t afford to let it mar your public image. You put your car into drive. You no longer had any sort of appetite. “I’m taking you home,” you informed Kaiba. “The answer is no.” 

“Have you even looked at the details?” 

“No. I don’t need to. I’m not interested.” You didn’t spare him a glance as you drove back to his apartment complex. The car stayed quiet, and as much as you wanted to turn on the radio, you would have to glance over at it to do so. You needed to focus on your driving until Kaiba was out of your car. 

You double parked in front of the building, intending to kick him out and be on your way, but he didn’t move from the passenger seat. “Read the contract,” he insisted. 

“Unless it explains why you think this would be a good idea, not interested.” A car honked at you. You waved a hand, indicating they should just go around, and glared at him. 

He refused to move. 

“Please get out. I’m not sure why you thought I would even consider this stupid idea, but I can’t deal with you right now.” Insulted and angry didn’t come close to describing how you felt right now. After he got out of your car, you were going to go home and relax in your own apartment. Maybe you would stop somewhere on the way and pick up a drink.

“Look.” He reached over and grabbed your arm. “I’m offering to compensate you for your time. If you’ll look at the contract, I’m sure you’ll agree the amount is more than fair.” 

Disgust stopped any words from leaving your throat. You grabbed his hand, pinching him between his fingers when he refused to release your arm. A driver held down their horn, and you flipped them off, completely done with the world. “I am not for sale. Now get. Out.” 

You glared at him, willing him to fall over dead. This subject was shut. Kaiba could consider himself lucky that you weren’t going to try to run him over once he was out of your car. 

He pushed the door open and turned to get out, placing his feet down on the ground. He paused long enough for you to consider just driving away and letting him roll out of the car. He looked back at you, and his glare caught you off guard. Why would he be angry with you? He had no right. 

You glared back at him, narrowing your eyes and debating whether or not you could push him out of your car.

Someone honked again. 

Kaiba got back into your car, closing the door. “Park somewhere.” 

You banged your head against the steering wheel. Why wouldn’t he just get out? “No. Go away.” 

“I need to get married to keep Mokuba.”

You stared at him. In the background, you registered the fact that someone was honking at you again. People really needed to just go around. 

“Read the contract,” he insisted. “Consider it.” Then he left the car, slamming the door shut once he was out. 

You sat in your car for a moment, wondering if he really would lose Mokuba somehow. Maybe he was using his brother to get you to agree to the deal? It made more sense than just wanting to get engaged for media attention, but why would he need to get married to keep Mokuba. 

It was too confusing. 

You went home and changed. Instead of relaxing or reading the contract, you went to the gym. It had been a while since you last worked out. All of your new jobs had interfered with your schedule. You knew that you needed to keep yourself in shape if you hoped to keep getting work. 

So you worked out at the gym until you were too tired to feel anything. 

Then you went home, showered, changed into comfortable clothes, and passed out on your bed. 

You woke up to the sound of your phone ringing. Sleep blurred your vision, and when you answered the phone, you didn’t know who was calling. 

“Did you look at the contract?” 

Kaiba. Of course. He needed to chill. “No. Haven’t gotten around to it. What time is it?” The last part you mumbled to yourself as you pulled your phone away from your ear to check the time. It was still early in the afternoon. Also you had some text messages. You wondered how many of them were from Kaiba. 

When you pressed your phone back to your ear, Kaiba was in the middle of a rant about getting back to people in a timely manner or something. You interrupted him. “My life doesn’t revolve around you.”

“I need an answer.” 

You sat up. “Ugh. You know this is starting to sound like you need me to do you a favor, Kaiba.” 

“It’s a business proposal. You would have the romantic relationship that you want and…” He hesitated. “It’s not a favor.” 

“Faking a marriage or getting married is not the same as dating. I’m not interested in your money. I’m pretty sure I have more than you do.” 

“For now.” 

You rolled your eyes. His arrogance knew no bounds. “The fact is, I don’t want to marry you, but you apparently need me to. That’s a favor.”

He stayed silent, and you checked to see if he’d hung up. He hadn’t. “What do you want?” he finally asked. 

“We could start with a please?” 

“No.” 

Yeah. You didn’t think that he would say please to anyone. It was worth a shot. “At the very least, I think I deserve a proper explanation.” 

“Can’t I just give you money or something?” 

“No. I want to know what I’m agreeing to.” 

He sighed, and you almost wondered if you were acting difficult in some way. Then you discarded that thought. Kaiba couldn’t expect you to just agree to something without the details. You had been handling your own career ever since you left home to become a model. You weren’t stupid even if people liked to assume you were. 

“I’m in the process of adopting my brother to ensure that he remains with me.” 

You nodded your head, even though he couldn’t see you, and waited for him to say more. He didn’t. The silence stretched on until you realized that was it. That was all he was going to give you. 

“So why can’t you adopt him on your own? You can provide for him, and I’m sure it’s better than putting him in the system.” 

Kaiba growled on the other end of the line, and you wondered what he was doing. Was he pacing around or could he sit still despite his clear annoyance with you? 

“Someone else is interested in Mokuba.” 

“Your parents?” You thought about Kaiba’s scars and the way Mokuba constantly looked around for danger. It dampened your mood. Kaiba did need to keep Mokuba. You could understand why it was such a big deal to him. 

“No.” 

Now you were the one growling out your annoyance. Could getting information out of him be any harder? “Do you want me to help you or not?” 

“I assumed that you would want to help my brother, but it seems I was incorrect.” 

You almost hung up on him. “For all I know, you have a perfectly nice uncle wanting to take him in, and you’re just being stubborn about it.” 

There was silence on the other end. You wondered if maybe you had hit the nail on the head. 

“We ran away from our adopted father. He’s trying to get Mokuba back to get at me.”

_ Oh _ . You weren’t sure what to say to that. You never thought that their parents might be dead. 

You didn’t have to say anything, Kaiba continued speaking after a moment. “I’ll be able to challenge that man on my own within a year. For now, I need to prove I can provide a stable family life for Mokuba to keep him.”

Kaiba didn’t say it, but you were sure that their adopted father had been the one to cause those scars on his back. “Okay. I’ll do it,” you whispered.  

He didn’t respond, and you wondered if you needed to repeat yourself louder. 

“Good,” he said. “Sign the contract and send it back.” 

“I’ll read the contract, and then I’ll call you back. I’m going to have a few stipulations of my own.” You needed to look out for yourself, and if you knew Kaiba, any contract he sent to you would be skewed in his favor. Agreeing to help him didn’t mean you were agreeing to shoot yourself in the foot. 

“Fine.” 

You hung up, sure that he would do the same if he hadn’t already. Then you went out to your kitchen to make yourself something to drink. You were going to need to comb through the contract carefully, and you would also need to think about what stipulations to add to ensure you wouldn’t get screwed. 

You already had a half-formed list in your head as you settled in at the table in your kitchen. You began writing it out on a notepad so you wouldn’t forget anything. As the list grew, you began to wonder if this might be a bad idea. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So about that plot twist. I bet nobody saw that one coming! I felt like it was a little too soon for Kaiba, but I also felt like Gozaburo wouldn't just let Kaiba run off without doing something and trying to ruin him. Kaiba is currently backed into a corner so... *Shrug* 
> 
> I hope that it doesn't seem OOC. D:


End file.
